Angelina Jolie’s Cameo Plans Were Scrapped After She Refused to Return For $273 Million Action Movie
Margot Robbie might’ve inadvertently opened floodgates for Mattel-owned toys to be developed into a live-action movie thanks to Barbie’s astronomical success at the box office.
However, the idea of tapping into and transforming nostalgia for one thing (or hobby) into a craze for a story on the big screen isn’t new.
Read more: Margot Robbie Decimates Another Tom Cruise Record as Barbie Gets Closer to $1 Billion in 2nd Week
The late 90s and early 2000s saw a lot of movies based on iconic gaming franchises hit theaters. While Robbie should undoubtedly be credited for driving the toy-into-movie trend to new heights through her own popularity and brilliant execution of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie Land, almost two decades ago, there was another equally (if not more) beautiful and popular face that tried to push the game-into-movie trend.
Angelina Jolie’s Connection With Game Adaptations
Tomb Raider is perhaps one of the most popular action-adventure game franchises of all time, and in its infant days, Lara Croft-led game was breaking records left, right, and center, collecting over $1.2 billion in revenue by 2002.
As such, it took Hollywood decision-makers little time to set their eyes on developing a movie based on the much-loved Lara and her adventures. Roping in Angelina Jolie, an equally admired household name, to lead the movie series proved to be a masterstroke.
Despite not being able to hook the video-game fans and other moviegoers with their script, the producers managed to utilize the aura of Lara and Jolie to lure fans to the theaters. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) turned in a good profit with its $273 million global collection. The fact it managed close to $50 million in the opening weekend suggests just how much fans were looking to see their favorite game characters turned into a live-action movie.
However, the hype died down pretty quickly, and the sequel bombed, managing to earn just over $150 million in 2003. The Wanted star was smart enough to understand the love for Lara had reached the saturation point, and accordingly took a step away from the franchise, explaining she was very happy with the last one (second) and didn’t feel the need to do another one.
Why Angelina Jolie Didn’t Get Even a Cameo in Third Tomb Raider Movie
Even the producers shifted away from the idea of game adaptations for a while and took over a decade to start working on the third Tomb Raider-influenced movie, albeit without Jolie.
Titled Tomb Raider, the movie instead featured Alicia Vikander in the lead role of Lara, who’s shown captivated by the mystery of her father’s disappearance. In fact, director Roar Uthaug went a step ahead and ensured the third installment was more in line with the game than ever. Whether that was the reason why Jolie failed to make a cut in a cameo role remains unclear.
When asked about her absence, producer Graham King said:
“It was never a story that had that moment where you could, you know what I mean? Pass the baton over. There wasn’t that kind of tone and that would’ve changed tones to have that… the studios of course, said ‘is there a way to get Angie? Should we try and have her kind of baton over this kind of thing?’ And I understand it for marketing and studios or whatever, but that never felt organic to our film. Something like that can tip the balance.”
Nevertheless, the glamorous actress, who was instead working in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, didn’t miss out on much, as Tomb Raider underwhelmed at the box office, managing to just reach the $273 million mark of the franchise’s first movie, which isn’t an impressive feat considering the usual earnings of movies separated by the gap of almost two decades.
Source: CinemaBlend
