Alicia Vikander's Tomb Raider Gets A Release Date

Warner Bros. and MGM have officially given the upcoming Tomb Raider film reboot a release date for March 16, 2018. The film will star Ex Machina's Alicia Vikander as series protagonist Lara Croft, a globetrotting archeologist and adventurer.

Warner Bros. and MGM are co-producing the film after acquired the rights from GK Films. GK Films had acquired the rights from Square Enix, the parent company of original Tomb Raider video game developer Eidos. Graham King will produce.

Tomb Raider was created by Eidos in 1996. The success of the first game spawned a franchise and eventually a movie adaptation starring Angelina Jolie in 2001, as well a sequel in 2003. Together the two films grossed $432 million worldwide for Paramount Pictures.

Square Enix has more recently handed the reins of the Tomb Raider game franchise to developer Crystal Dynamics, who rebooted the series with 2013's Tomb Raider. The game reimagined the gameplay from the ground and served as an origin story for Lara Croft, allowing players to control a younger version of the character during her first big adventure. The sequel, Rise of the Tomb Raider, followed in January 2016 for Xbox One and PC. The PlayStation 4 version of the game will be released later in 2016.

The new Tomb Raider film will take its direction from the Crystal Dynamics reboot, casting Vikander as a young Lara Croft in the early days of her career. Vikander had her breakout role in sci-fi film Ex Machina, and won an Academy Award for her performance in The Danish Girl. She'll next appear in Jason Bourne.