Alicia Vikander has been cast today as Lara Croft for MGM, Warner Bros and GK Films in Tomb Raider. The reboot will tell the story of a young and untested Lara Croft fighting to survive her first adventure. Roar Uthaug (The Wave) is directing. MGM and Warner Bros are co-producing the film with MGM overseeing production. They acquired film rights from GK Films, which had previously purchased film rights in 2011 from Square Enix LTD. Graham King is serving as producer.

This is the latest plum role for Vikander, and arguably her highest-profile one yet. She next co-stars in Jason Bourne opposite Matt Damon. Her success continues to rise following a successful 2015 that saw her performance in Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl win an Academy Award for best supporting actress as well as a memorable turn in Ex Machina as possibly the best-looking and ruthless robot in the history of cinema. She also has The Light Between Oceans opposite Michael Fassbender in the pipelines. That film has been generating awards-season buzz even though it will not be released before the end of the year.

This was a role that every young actress was after with Daisy Ridley, Cara Delevigne, Emilia Clarke and Saoirse Ronan all rumored at some point. Vikander looks a strong choice for this potential franchise, given she has form with a perfect English accent. She is currently filming Submergence for Wim Wenders opposite James McAvoy.

Lara Croft was famously played in its previous incarnation by Angelina Jolie at her most kick-ass and pneumatic.

The original Tomb Raider game was published in 1996 by the London-based video game company Eidos and went on to become one of the most successful video games of the time. Eidos (including Crystal Dynamics) is now part of Square Enix, an international interactive entertainment group.

The latest adaptation, which has been in development for several years, received a jolt of adrenaline when the video game series was rebooted with 2013’s Tomb Raider, which depicted Croft’s first adventure as an archaeology student, and follow-up Rise Of The Tomb Raider.

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