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Angelina Jolie’s third Tomb Raider film was discussed, but it never received the green light to go into production. Jolie said she felt satisfied with The Cradle of Life and did not feel she needed another film; by 2006, Eidos executive Ian Livingstone said a writer had been brought in, but the project was still a long way from approval and depended partly on Jolie’s availability. The available record points to both her reluctance and commercial uncertainty, not one documented, definitive cancellation reason.
How close did a third Jolie film get?
The 2001 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was followed by Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life in 2003, with Jolie returning as Lara Croft. A third installment was talked about, and a screenwriter was reportedly brought into the process. But discussion and script development did not amount to a studio-approved production.
In a 2006 GameSpot interview, Eidos product acquisition director Ian Livingstone said, “There may be a third movie” and confirmed that a screenwriter had been brought in. He also stressed that this was “a long way from the movie being green-lit,” adding that much depended on Jolie’s availability. GameSpot’s interview with Ian Livingstone is the clearest account of the project’s status: it was being discussed, but it had not become a green-lit film.
Why didn’t Angelina Jolie want to return?
She felt the second film gave her the story she wanted
In March 2004, Jolie said, “I just don’t feel like I need to do another one, because I felt very happy with the last one. It was the one that we really wanted to do.” She contrasted that satisfaction with her frustration during the first film. Her comments are the strongest direct evidence for her own reasons for not pursuing another installment. Tomb Raider Chronicles’ report of Jolie’s 2004 remarks relayed comments made at a press conference.
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She had already expressed doubt in 2003
By October 2003, Jolie was publicly unsure a third movie would happen. A contemporaneous report quoted her saying, “I don’t think there will be a Tomb Raider 3,” then mentioning that she planned to have another baby, take time off and learn to fly a plane. Those remarks preceded her more explicit statement in 2004 that she did not feel she needed to make another film. Tomb Raider Chronicles’ 2003 report captures that earlier uncertainty.
Did the second film’s performance matter?
Commercial prospects were another concern raised in contemporary coverage. A 2003 Tomb Raider Chronicles report described The Cradle of Life’s U.S. performance as mediocre and put its opening weekend at $21.7 million, with a fourth-place ranking. That is the figure reported by that article, not an independently verified box-office total. It helps explain why the project’s prospects were uncertain, but the available accounts do not show that weak U.S. performance alone caused the third film not to proceed. The 2003 report on the film’s U.S. opening also noted a producer’s view that international returns could be enough for Paramount to finance a final chapter.
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- LCROFT: TOMB RAID [4K UHD]
Was it officially cancelled?
The available accounts establish no green light, production schedule or formal cancellation notice. They show a project under discussion, a writer brought in, an actor who had expressed little need to continue, and uncertainty about whether the film could move forward. It is more accurate to say Jolie’s third film never advanced into an approved production than to describe it as a completed production that was later shelved.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How the later Tomb Raider film is different
The later Alicia Vikander project belongs to a separate film continuity: it continued the 2018 reboot, not Jolie’s proposed third movie. TheWrap reported in August 2022 that MGM lost the broader film rights after a contractual deadline to begin production passed. That later rights lapse does not explain the nonproduction of a Jolie-era sequel. TheWrap’s account of the later project’s rights situation concerns the Vikander-era film, not Jolie’s.
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- 2 Tall Blu Ray Cases
- Widescreen Aspect Ratio
- Dolby Digital
- Includes Glossy Print 4.5 x 5.5 Inch Round Edge Tomb Art Card
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![Lara Croft: Tomb Raider [Blu-ray]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51+NFklnElL._SL160_.jpg)
- Condition: New
- Format: Blu-ray
- Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; Subtitled; Widescreen
Rank #3
- The disk DOES NOT have Italian audio and subtitles.
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