'Tomb Raider' Sequel With Alicia Vikander Will Be Directed By 'Lovecraft Country' Creator Misha Green

The Tomb Raider sequel has found a new director: Misha Green, who developed the HBO adaptation of Lovecraft Country. This film, which marks Green's feature directorial debut, will bring back Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft. At one point, filmmaker Ben Wheatley was announced to helm the movie, with a script from frequent collaborator Amy Jump. But now Wheatley has moved on to The Meg 2, and Green will write and direct the film.

Deadline broke the news that the Tomb Raider sequel will now be written and directed by Misha Green. Green developed and wrote, or co-wrote, every episode of HBO's Lovecraft Country. She also directed one of the episodes, but that's her only directing credit to date – which also makes the Tomb Raider sequel her first feature directorial gig. Green's other credits include writing on Underground (which she co-created), Spartacus, and Helix. She also wrote the upcoming film The Mother.

This latest Tomb Raider is a follow-up to the 2018 film featuring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft. Vikander will be back for this follow-up, but it's not entirely clear if it will serve as a direct sequel to the 2018 movie or be more of a soft reboot. If I had to guess, I'd go with the latter, especially since the 2018 film was mostly a prequel that established how Lara became the tomb raider fans know and love. Before the 2018 movie, there were two Tomb Raider films that featured Angelina Jolie as the titular character.

Back in 2019, it was announced that Ben Wheatley would be directing the Tomb Raider sequel from a script by Amy Jump. Wheatley and Jump are married and have worked together on several films, including Kill List and High-Rise. But the Wheatley/Jump version of Tomb Raider never came together, and Wheatley has since moved on to direct The Meg 2.

I enjoyed Green's work on Lovecraft Country, and I hope she knocks Tomb Raider out of the park. That said, there's always going to be a part of me that wishes we got to see whatever the hell Jump and Wheatley were cooking up for their version of Tomb Raider. There's no word yet on when we might see the Tomb Raider sequel, but back in 2019, MGM set the release date as March 19, 2021. Obviously, that's not happening now.

Tomb Raider originated as a video game created by British gaming company Core Design and launched in 2001. It went on to spawn several sequels and spin-offs, with the most recent being 2018's Shadow of the Tomb Raider.