Norwegian filmmaker Roar Uthaug has reportedly agreed to direct the new Tomb Raider movie that’s intended to kick off a new series of films featuring the intrepid treasure-hunter Lara Croft.
Best known for his 2006 thriller Cold Prey, Uthaug has directed a wide range of Norwegian films that also includes the upcoming tsunami thriller The Wave, which was recently shortlisted for consideration in the Academy Awards’ foreign film category. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Tomb Raider reboot is expected to be Uthaug’s first English-language feature film.
Along with bringing on Uthaug as director, the studio has also reportedly signed screenwriter Geneva Robertson-Dworet to pen the screenplay for the reboot. Robertson-Dworet is one of the writers currently working on a script for the upcoming fifth installment of the Transformers franchise.
Plans to reboot the Tomb Raider series have been in the works for more than five years now, with the most recent update involving the addition of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles screenwriter Evan Daugherty back in February 2015. It’s unknown whether Robertson-Dworet will be revising an existing script or penning an entirely new screenplay for the film.
The previous Tomb Raider series encompassed just two films, but the series remains one of the most successful video game adaptations ever to find its way to the big screen, grossing more than $432 million worldwide. Angelina Jolie portrayed Lara Croft in both films, 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and 2003’s Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.
The most recent installment of the game franchise, Rise of the Tomb Raider, was released this month for the Xbox One and Xbox 360.
There’s currently no release date set for the Tomb Raider reboot.
