Tomb Raider (2018) star Alicia Vikander will no longer be Lara Croft after MGM lost the rights to the franchise.
According to The Wrap, the rights for the Tomb Raider film franchise have lapsed after MGM failed to greenlight a Tomb Raider sequel in time, and that means the franchise is now up for grabs. MGM had until May this year to put a Tomb Raider sequel into production but has now lost the rights after failing to do so. This has sparked a bidding war in Hollywood with "a host" of studios now putting in bids for the popular video game franchise.
The next film, it seems, will be a complete reboot of the franchise without Alicia Vikander, who starred as Lara Croft in the last movie reboot of the series. Tomb Raider saw Vikander suit up as the iconic Lara Croft and earned a paltry $275 million at the box office, barely breaking even. On top of that, it suffered from lackluster reviews.
MGM had already begun looking at a potential sequel, with Lovecraft Country showrunner Misha Green pegged to write and direct, but that too has fallen apart. GK Films acquired the Tomb Raider rights in 2011 from Square Enix and is now considering offers.
https://www.thewrap.com/mgm-tomb-raider-movie-rights-bidding-war-exclusive/