Losing Tomb Raider was a big “MGM F— up,” apparently

As any treasure hunter or internet commenter worth their salt will tell you, being first is everything. Now MGM is learning harder than anyone that when one has the opportunity to produce a sequel to 2018’s Tomb Raider starring Alicia Vikander, one must act.

Last week, news broke that Vikander would no longer play the video game adventurer Lara Croft in an upcoming sequel. According to a new report from The Wrap, MGM lost the rights to produce a follow-up to Vikander’s Lara Croft adventure because cameras weren’t rolling by May 1, 2022. As one source told The Wrap: “They had a window they missed… Theoretically, this was an MGM fuck up.”

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Vikander warned fans as much in an interview with EW several months ago. “With the MGM and Amazon buyout, I have no clue. Now it’s kind of politics,” she said. “I think [writer-director Misha Green] and I have been ready, so it’s kind of in somebody else’s hands, to be honest.” However, the report clashes with Vikander’s comments. The Wrap’s sources blame the delays on disagreements between the actor and Green over the script.

Numerous unnamed sources told The Wrap that they’re blaming the studio for “years of useless development” and moving with a lack of urgency, despite knowing about the deadline. It’s uncommon for studios to let the rights lapse on a popular piece of intellectual property, like Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. In some cases, entire fake movies were produced and never released to retain the rights to, say, Marvel’s Fantastic Four. But apparently, the original rights holders, Square Enix, ran out of patience with the studio.

2018’s Tomb Raider was far from a monster hit out the gate, but over the last few years, thanks in part to it being regularly available on airplanes, Tomb Raider’s turned a nice little profit for MGM. It’s also been steadily growing through word of mouth. That’s right, people actually liked Vikander’s Tomb Raider and would like to see more of it.

Nevertheless, it’s fair to assume that Lara Croft will return. The rights to the property are now up for auction—without Vikander’s Croft. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a “feeding frenzy” over the rights has studios such as Warner Bros and Netflix champing at the bit. Who knows, it could be the next movie Warner Bros. produces and never releases. Ironically enough, the studio that bought MGM, Amazon, is also bidding. Great system we have here.