Alicia Vikander is Lara Croft in TOMB RAIDER Reboot

While many fans were holding out hope that Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley would end up scoring the lead role of Lara Croft in the upcoming live-action reboot of Tomb Raider, Variety reports that Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander will play the part instead.

This is the first I'm hearing about Vikander's attachment to the project, but Variety's report claims that the actress has been the producers' top choice from the beginning (though they did meet with Ridley for the part, too). Vikander has had a Jessica Chastain-esque rise to fame, going from essentially an unknown to a full-fledged star in basically one year. Movies like Ex Machina, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and The Danish Girl put her on the map, and she's capitalized in a big way and scored roles in Jason Bourne and now this. While I would have liked to have seen Ridley in the role, I think Vikander has the potential to be great, and I'm especially interested to see if she has the physicality necessary for the part. This movie is going to be based on the 2013 video game reboot, and Lara takes some serious lumps during that game, so it'll be fascinating to see how closely they stick to that story and if Vikander can hack it.

The studio has apparently been waiting for a new draft of the screenplay, written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet, and it sounds like they've received it and all parties are satisfied. Roar Uthaug (The Wave) is directing, and this movie might hit theaters as soon as October 6, 2017. What do you think about Vikander as the new Lara Croft?