'Tomb Raider': Alicia Vikander Is The New Lara Croft

The Tomb Raider reboot has anointed its new Lara Croft. Alicia Vikander, an Oscar winner for last year's The Danish Girl, will step into the combat boots last filled by Angelina Jolie in 2001's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and 2003's Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. Roar Uthuag (The Wave) is directing the latest adaptation of the popular video game series. 

The Tomb Raider Alicia Vikander news follows earlier reports that Daisy Ridley was being eyed for the Lara Croft role. The Star Wars: The Force Awakens actress confirmed there had been "conversations" but she never got a formal offer. The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit writes that while Ridley was never in serious contention, Suicide Squad actress Cara Delevigne was. Variety's Justin Kroll writes that Vikander has been a frontrunner for some time already.

MGM, Warner Bros., and GK Films are behind the new action-adventure, which will reboot the franchise and go back in time to Lara Croft's very first adventure. Graham King is producing. Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Evan Daugherty are among those who've worked on the screenplay.

Vikander had a breakthrough year in 2015, appearing in seven movies: Son of a Gun, Seventh Son, Ex Machina, Testament of Youth, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Burnt, and The Danish Girl. She'll stay in the limelight this year with Tulip Fever, Jason Bourne, and The Light Between Oceans. She's proven herself a pretty versatile actress, able to move between breezy spy caper, cerebral sci-fi thriller, and high-end prestige drama, but she hasn't yet had the opportunity to shoulder her own blockbuster franchise.

The Tomb Raider reboot has been in the works for years. GK Films picked up the rights in 2011, MGM signed on in 2013, and Warner Bros. joined the party in 2015. Uthaug was hired last fall. Warner Bros. hasn't announced a release date yet for the Tomb Raider movie, but with a buzzy new star on board, look for that to change in the not-too-distant future.