Forgot That Reboot of Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider? It Just Found New Life on Streaming

Right, here’s a little oddity for you: Tomb Raider—not the Angelina Jolie ones, mind, but the Alicia Vikander reboot from 2018—has suddenly shot back into the streaming stratosphere years after most assumed it had been well and truly buried. It’s all happening on HBO Max in the US, where, according to FlixPatrol, the film has muscled its way up to the number three spot on their movie chart.

Yes, you read that right. An eight-year-old reboot, largely overlooked since its original run, is apparently more appealing to HBO Max punters this week than most of what’s new. It’s rubbing shoulders with the likes of The Bride, Rampage, and The Moment, which raises a few questions about what viewers are really in the mood for. Is it nostalgia? Is it boredom? Possibly both.

Tomb Raider: The Reboot, in a Nutshell

If you missed this one, here’s the gist. Rather than trying to recapture the overly stylised (and bonkers) energy of Jolie’s early-2000s outings, the 2018 Tomb Raider borrowed heavily from the grittier style of Crystal Dynamics’ video game reboot. We get a Lara Croft who’s less luxury yacht and more getting-punched-while-hanging-off-cliffs.

• Lara Croft: Played by Alicia Vikander, who’s channelling ‘modern survivor’ rather than ‘posh adrenaline junkie’
• Casting: Walton Goggins is the villain (because of course he is), with Hannah John-Kamen, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Nick Frost all showing up in key roles
• Director: Norwegian filmmaker Roar Uthaug steering the ship
• Story basics: Lara goes off in search of her missing dad, stumbles onto a deadly conspiracy on a remote island, and spends a good chunk of the film getting battered by the elements and assorted henchmen
• Produced by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Bros. Pictures, and GK Films

So, where did it land with critics and audiences? Well, let’s say reactions were mixed. The Rotten Tomatoes numbers aren’t exactly glowing: 52% on the Tomatometer, which means about half the critics turned their noses up, and a 55% audience score. IMDb users have it sitting at 6.3 out of 10, so not a disaster, just very ‘middle of the road’. Fans did seem to appreciate Vikander’s more down-to-earth approach and the way the film mirrored the newer games, which, frankly, were a lot more character-driven than the early noughties fare.

As for money, the film did alright for itself. With a budget reportedly around 94 million bucks, it pulled in nearly $275 million globally. Not exactly Marvel money, but hardly a flop. Apparently, that wasn’t quite enough for the studios to roll straight into a sequel, but it showed Lara Croft still has a fair few fans out there who don’t mind trading nostalgia for a bit of scrappiness.

And now, all this time later, it’s enjoying a slightly baffling resurgence on streaming. Not bad for a ‘forgotten’ reboot.