GK Films Rebooting Tomb Raider Franchise

News, Projects

A few months ago the magazine Mental Floss had a cover story on the twenty-five most powerful films in the last twenty-five years. Among the films listed were Borat, Hoop Dreams and Tomb Raider. Yes, Tomb Raider.

The reason for its placement on the list is because it set a precedent when it came to movie financing. Paramount Pictures, the studio responsible for its distribution, actually recouped most of the box office gross before a single ticket was sold. Thanks to a German tax shelter, they could take an instant tax deduction despite the fact that the film was a non-German production. Selling the copyright for $94 million and buying it back for $83.8 million, Paramount made $10.2 million. The copyright was then resold to a British Investment Group and another $12 million was made. Presales to distributors in Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain made a further $65 million. Cable network Showtime paid $6.8 million for premium cable TV rights. In total, $94 million was put together. The actual cost of production was $115 million and the film ended up grossing $274 million worldwide.

Eight years after Lara Croft’s (the heroine of the Tomb Raider franchise) last cinematic adventure, comes word that she may be coming back.

Graham King, whose GK Films has helped to produce such hits as Rango, The Town, and Blood Diamond, has acquired the feature film rights and plans to reboot the successful action-adventure franchise, a series which helped propel Angelina Jolie to stardom.

“We are very excited to be rebooting what is already a hugely successful film franchise and continuing the Tomb Raider phenomenon,” said King.

GK Films acquired the film rights from interactive entertainment company, Square Enix Ltd. Just a few months ago the Square Enix subsidiary Crystal Dynamics revealed a new game for Tomb Raider based around the origins of the Lara Croft story. Whether or not this new film (which is aiming for a 2013 release) borrows from that game’s source material is not yet known.

Source: GK Films (via Deadline)

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!