'Tomb Raider' Plot News: Director Lists Major Inspirations From Video Game; First Official Trailer Debuts Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft
The first ever trailer for the "Tomb Raider" movie reboot is now out, and it debuts Alicia Vikander as the new Lara Croft. Meanwhile, director Roar Uthaug recently revealed several of the inspirations that he got from the movie's video game counterpart.
Uthaug confirmed that at the early stages of crafting the film, one of their main goals was to stay close to the same title video game released in 2013 that was developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix.
In fact, when comparing the game's cover photo to Vikander's look in the movie's first official trailer, her outfit and overall appearance - as well as the weapons she holds - are virtually identical. Uthaug revealed that when they looked for the new Lara – a role that had long been associated to Angelina Jolie – they always had the image of the video game protagonist in mind.
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"Looking at actresses around the world, we found that Alicia Vikander really stood out to us. What's great about Alicia is that she really pushes herself above and beyond, and that's kind of what Lara is doing in this movie," Uthaug told IGN.
Meanwhile, fans of the game who have already seen the movie trailer will definitely spot some uncanny similarities in the plots. For one, both in the game and in the movie, Lara's main adversary is the heavily armed, jungle-based organization called Trinity.
Going back to the 2013 game's cover, one iconic weapon that Lara used was a bow and arrow – something that is also a staple in the movie remake. "What we really wanted to tell with this was a survival story. Surviving on a desolate island like this, it felt like the bow and arrow was the natural weapon for Lara," Uthaug explained.
However, Uthaug maintained that there are still some plots unique to the film despite the array of video game references. According to the report, fans should watch out for how Uthaug and the rest of the production team put their own touch in the river bomber parachute scene that also happened in the video game.
"Tomb Raider" will open in theaters on March 16, 2018.
