Tomb Raider

Genre: Action/Adventure.

Studio: Paramount Pictures.
Production Company: Eidos Interactive/Unnamed production company.

Project Phase: Script Stage.

Who's In It: Unknown. Fans want Elizabeth Hurley to play Lara Croft, the babealicious adventurer.
Who's Making It: Brent Friedman (Screenwriter); Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin (Producers); Charles Cornwall (Executive Producer); based on the computer game Tomb Raider designed by Eidos Interactive.

Premise: Lara Croft's work takes her to dangerous and mysterious locales around the globe, searching for lost crypts from empires long since forgotten. From the frozen ruins embedded in a glacier within the Arctic Circle to a forgotten valley filled with supposedly-extinct creatures in South America's rainforests, Croft's ventures are one part treasure hunt and one part adrenaline rush.

Release Date: Unknown.

Comments: The phenominal popularity of the game has brought something never really seen before to computer games: a virtual sex symbol. Lara Croft's digital wireframe has been so well-received by the, er, male computer game players that she was featured in a virtual photo shoot publicizing her upcoming Tomb Raider 2 release. Lara even wore a swimsuit that will be seen in an underwater mission in the sequel.

And the best part is all the popularity hasn't gone to her head. Speaking exculsively to CA, Ms. Croft stressed that her primarly focus remained on her globe-hopping pursuits and investigating new treasure leads. "It's nice to have some share of the spotlight, Lara told us, "just as long as I'm able to bring some attention to women pursuing a career in archaeology or another science." And what did she think about the Liz Hurley rumor? After a short pause on the phone, she finally spoke. "It sounds ok to me, just as long as they meet one condition. She's got to be able to shoot like me!"

Rumors: Unknown.

Scoop Feedback:

August - September, 1997... Rumors are floating around that model-turned-actress Elizabeth Hurley has been approached to play the silver screen version of Lara. Also, a less likely rumor has Steven Spielberg having a hand in the project, possibly to direct the feature. [Reported anonymously.]

This scooper wants to see Nicolas Cage's wife from The Rock, Vanessa Marcil, cast as Lara. [Suggested by 'Ward 18'.]

Back 'round March of this year, Eidos was all set to sell the film rights to the game - but what happened? Did they get sold, and if so, who now owns them? [Info sent in by 'RaveDave'.]

September 23, 1997... This scooper's heard vague rumors that actress Diane Lane is being considered for Lara Croft and Sharon Stone as her nemesis. While it sounds interesting, our take on it is that Lane's not a big enough of a name to be cast in the hero's role if Stone portrays the villain. If that were the case, casting execs would like to get their hands on someone who draws box office, say like Sandra Bullock. [Rumor overheard by James Furlong.]

November 16, 1997... Hmm. Reports that Elizabeth Hurley has been signed to portray the busty English adventurer remain unconfirmed -- it appears the original source was none other than the British tabloid The Sun. One scooper (who also said Hurley is in "serious negotiations" for the part) told us that the original Eidos model for Lara, actress Rhona Mitra, will continue to appear as the video game vixen at trade shows, but due to a conflict with Eidos she won't get the feature part. Mitra (currently filming Beowulf was the most visible spokesperson for a proposed Tomb Raider feature. [Scoops sent in by 'Massive', 'mat' and anonymously.]

November 18, 1997... We receive a scoop from an anonymous someone who informs us "The Tomb Raider film rights are still for sale. Eidos wants a guarantee that the movie will be greenlit within six months and is making this a stipulation of any film deal, all the studios are balking. It's absurd to speculate about cast when the rights haven't even been purchased." True, but the hype has been brewing for a while: the premise has got all the ingredients for a potential hit -- adventure, exotic locales, dangerous critters, lost creatures, plenty of mystery and action, and, of course, Lara's two big guns. [Thanks to an anonymous scooper, who probably [along with our Mothers] doesn't believe we just said that.]

March 8, 1998... An anonymous report informs us that PC Gamer magazine editor-in-chief Gary Whitta's partial, unauthorized script for a Tomb Raider movie has gathered many fan supporters. The rights to the property have been sold (Universal?), but as for Whitta's script "As far as the industry is concerned, he is NOT up for active consideration yet." [Anonymous.]

March 17, 1998... Today Paramount Pictures confirmed what we already knew: they had aquired the film rights for Tomb Raider. As far as we can tell, the first to break the news to the Web was Luis Cunha's The Croft Times a few days ago. Officially, the film's producers will be Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin; they produced last autumn's well-received Boogie Nights, as well as Predator and Die Hard. Here's what we heard from 'Messenger' about the choice of the film's producer: " Lawrence Gordon was brought in to be it's producer. This seems to indicate that this movie is being taken seriously, and an attempt is being made to avoid the mistakes made in other game to movie translations."

[Announcement information sent in by 'lcunha', 'Messenger', 'slush', 'Morpheus', Joe Hanna, 'samanmax', Todd Dupler and anonymous.]

Also sent in to us: someone's buddy working in Paramount "saw a few Tomb Raider memos floating around as well as a few treatments." Does that mean multiple treatments for the film exist? [Thanks to the dangerous 'Trigger9mm'.]

An anonymous scooper called the sale of the property an "intense bidding war". They also report that Eidos, the company that published the Tomb Raider games, is also involved with Paramount as a co-production entity. [Anonymous.]

This made us look back for any earlier scoops that may be viewed in a different light with today's announcement. This one stands out as such, sent in March 5th: "The deal is done and there WILL be a movie. The producers are just looking for the right writer to script it." [Anonymous.]

That made us search even farther back...and this one hit us really hard. January 24 -- that's the date this scoop came in. They nailed the Paramount pre-production rumor down first. They also offer an intriguing question which we'll print. It's easy to make this kind of error when you get a few thousand scoops per week; the scooper from the day before concerning TR told us the producers were pursuing an entirely digital movie, a la Toy Story. Seperating the wheat from the chaff can be difficult sometimes, but it shows you how far our heads were in the sand on this one...

"My informant over there tells me that the rumoured butting of heads between the studio and Eidos is exactly that -- a rumour (apparently started by Eidos) I'm unsure why they'd start such a rumour -- after all, wouldn't they WANT the free publicity of people reporting on the film's progress?" [Credit and apologies for this goes to 'rabbit404'.]

We're looking into the origins surrounding the partial Tomb Raider script and should have some solid information to report on by Friday.

March 24, 1998... While we were awaiting news on the possibility Gary Whitta's unsolicited Tomb Raider script could be in the running, Paramount announced last Friday that Brent Friedman (Mortal Kombat Annihilation) had nabbed the screenwriting job. Savvy web reader 'bsx.xsb' caught a news segment on E! Online that also mentioned Eidos CEO Charles Cornwall acting as an executive producer on the film project. [Thank ya 'bsx.xsb.']

We had contacted PC Gamer Editor Gary Whitta and asked him for the direct goods on what was going on just before the announcement of Friedman landing his writing duties. CA had been receiving many scoops about the unofficial TR fan script floating around the 'net that's been making some significant buzz. Based on his unsolicited fanfic script, was Whitta in the running for the job of writing the picture?

When contacted, Gary Whitta filled us in -- sorta. "Since I posted the first half of the script on various web sites I've received over A THOUSAND e-mails from Tomb Raider and movie fans who loved it (particularly the way the character of Lara is handled) and wanted to know if it's going to be used for the movie," Whitta told us. But he couldn't comment about the status of the script at the present time. We then contacted Whitta's managerial firm, Smith Entertainment, based in Los Angeles. "The fan reaction was (and continues to be) incredibly positive," said one of Smith Entertainment's representatives in regards to Gary Whitta's fanfic script. "but, as we both know, fans (no matter how outspoken) don't hire writers." Friday's announcement confirmed that indeed was the case.

[Big thank yous go out to Gary Whitta and Smith Entertainment for helping us out. Remember dear readers: there's always the possibility of a sequel.]

According this fellow's source that has inside connections, Eidos already knows who's going to be playing Lara Croft in the movie. Our main man also forwarded us part of the Eidos press release from last week announcing the theatrical deal...

Eidos plc, Europe's largest publisher and developer of entertainment software, announces that it has entered into an agreement to license the worldwide film rights to Tomb Raider to Paramount Pictures. Paramount, in conjunction with Eidos, plans to produce a live action feature film based on the top-selling video game title. Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc.

Mr Lawrence Gordon and Mr Lloyd Levin will produce the action adventure. Since premiering in November 1996, 'Tomb Raider' and its successor, 'Tomb Raider 2,' have sold over six million copies, making it one of the best-selling video game titles in history. Lara Croft, the game's star, has been featured on more than 80 magazine and newspaper covers around the world.

Mr Charles Cornwall, Chief Executive of Eidos, commented: 'This agreement highlights our focus on creating interactive entertainment content that can be leveraged into other media through low risk ventures. In securing this major distribution platform for our top-selling franchise, we have improved our long-term potential to generate value for our shareholders. We look forward to working with Paramount in building upon the awareness and following for the 'Tomb Raider' and Lara Croft brands."

Mr John Goldwyn, President of Paramount Motion Pictures, said: "We are thrilled by the possibilities of this film project. We are confident that the pairing of Eidos, a leading company in the cutting-edge world of video game, and producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin, will result in a ground-breaking live-action adventure movie with worldwide appeal."

[Thanks to main man Mat Braddy, one of Lara's old ex-boyfriends who used to love playing with her guns. HEY! Get your mind out of the gutter, bucko -- the ones she shoots with! And a quick nod to 'taz' for an assist.]

March 26, 1998... Interested in checking out what all the hoopla is about? You can now. Read Gary Whitta's fan fiction script for a proposed Tomb Raider movie by visiting the PC Gamer site located at www.pcgamer.com/features/tombscript.html. There's plane crashes, Yetis, the looting of lost Egyptian tombs and Lara getting dressed up to the nines... [Again, thanks to Gary Whitta.]

May 2, 1998... We've been told by a reliable source that Paramount is considering none other than Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith for the part of Lara. Uh, excuse us Paramount, but...there's more to the character than just those qualifications. [Submitted by 'Agent 4125'.]

July 7, 1998... A bit of rumor control here. Yesterday's edition of PlayStation Online ran a report from a person called 'Oscar', who claimed to be "a stage-hand on the set of the Tomb Raider movie." (Insert our coughing sound here) Anyway, 'Oscar' claimed that an actress called Carla Pivonski had been cast as Lara, and that filming had been going on for two weeks at 'Big Peaks, Guatemala'.

Ok, beside the fact that it's utter and complete horse fecal material and we had to shoot this one down before we received a gazillion scoops about it, we'd thought we'd tell you about it because they're also running a semi-nude picture of Ms. Pivonski (who doesn't have a single screen credit on the Internet Movie Database, we'd like to add.) ['Fahrvergnugen', 'jramsay' and 'cjs' have their doubts about the PSM scoop, but they did their duty.]

July 9, 1998... After speaking to Paramount Pictures today, we can safely report that the Tomb Raider movie isn't shooting at all. Paramount hasn't even announced a screenwriter for the gig as yet.

While those in the biz already assumed the PSM rumor to be nothing more than the stuff you throw in the compost heap in the first place, it shows you the effect that a major site like PSM has when it runs this sort of thing. Guys, next time, buy an ish of Variety before assuming filming is underway!

And as a follow-up to who this Carla Pivonski affair...

"After seeing how well this Carla Pivonski looks like our beloved Lara, I decided to do a little research. Hit Alta Vista and search for +Carla +Pivonski and you'll come up with many, MANY porn sites with her pictures. So she's obviously a porn star, and as near as I can tell has appeared in Playboy. This doesn't neccesarily mean she really IS Lara, it could all be a hoax by some kid who found a picture who looked 'Lara-like', but at least it proves she does exist." [Danka to 'he boys from '#ow'.]

Well, we're here to say she ain't Lara. As much as it weighs heavily upon our souls to report it, we still stand beside our earlier source who claimed that former Playmate of the Year Anna Nicole Smith was under consideration for the role. (Maybe in the time since then someone's wised up and actually considered actresses who can do more for the role besides having the body of Lara...)

September 28, 1998... Progress is being made! Once you've got a website for a film, then you know that, well, casting can't be more than six months off! "Saw this on a gaming site (OGR, to be exact) and checked it out. The official Tomb Raider Movie page has been put up...but there's practically no information on it as of yet." Go see for yourselves at http://www.tombraider.com/themovie/

September 30, 1998... 'Rvelasco' is back, and he's found some questionable info: "I read in the latest issue of 'Femme Fatale' magazine that Steven Spielberg has considered directing the film...now, first of all, I think the publishers of that magazine should be shot. That sounds like pure fan-boy stuff and they should have their heads examined for ever writing that. Spielberg has never expressed any interest in the project or been attached to it in any way, has he?..."

Spielberg directed Lara Croft? Nah, we can't see it happening. But still--let your mind grasp the concept of that for just a moment. (Pause) Okay, enough grasping. Move along. ['Rvelasco' wonders, and so do we.]

October 2, 1998... Two days ago three of the four top movie gossip Internet sites received a detailed review of Brent Friedman's Tomb Raider screenplay. Not to fear, CA readers: the ever-plucky 'Agent 4125' also slipped their critique under our door. We were just hanging onto it until the Paramount surveillance van that was parked across the street drove away. Really. Honest.

There's some MINOR SPOILERS revealed in the review including the ending of the script, but if could distill the scooper's summation, it'd be this: it's a bad script. If you agree and want to tell Paramount Pictures what you think, skip to the end of this scoop for a way to do so.

"I've just finished reading the first draft (dated 7/17/98) of Brent V. Friedman's draft of Tomb Raider, the Summer 1999 movie based on the best-selling series of videogames.

"As a fan of the games, and in particular the main character Lara Croft, I was intrigued and excited to see what Paramount, and the producing team of Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin had come up with so far. I'd been more than a little disappointed by their most recent stinker, the scriptless Event Horizon, but I've always thought that Tomb Raider could make a really cool movie so I had high hopes for this script.

"The first draft clocks in at 108 pages, and I'm sorry to report that the content is every bit as old and dusty as the ancient artifacts that Lara pursues in her gaming adventures. It should be mentioned that this is only the first draft, and it's likely (make that extremely likely) that there will be revisions and rewrites, and I hear that Paramount also has a second writer working on a completely different script which could be a lot better, so all is not lost. But for now, the script they have is pretty wretched.

"I imagine that Friedman got this writing gig because he has worked on videogame adaptations before (he was a co-writer on the tepid Mortal Kombat: Annihilation), but from reading his first pass at Tomb Raider it seems doubtful that he spent much time, if any at all, researching Tomb Raider or Lara Croft. My first impression, upon reading the script, is that die-hard Tomb Raider fans will be shocked and dismayed at how much the game background and the character of Lara has been changed. For instance in the opening scenes, which depict the plane crash in the Himalayas, both of Lara's parents are killed -- this is not the way Tomb Raider fans know it to be!

"On its own, this would only be a small matter -- but there are plenty of other deviations and a general disregard for the Tomb Raider mythos throughout the script. In an awkward contrivance, the grown-up Lara has been adopted (kinda) by a Himalayan monk called Karak who acts as her butler/trainer. I think they were trying to imbue Lara with some spiritualism, but the impression I got was a lame take off of the whole David Carradine/Grasshoper schtick from Kung-Fu. There's a laughable sequence in which Lara returns home from her mansion to be ambushed by baddies... and after a long action set-piece we realize that in fact it was all just a training routine that Karak set for her with the aid of the domestic staff. Remember when Inspector Clouseau came home at night and would be ambushed in his house by Kato? That's kinda how this seems, except here they're not playing it for laughs.

"The main thrust of the story (into which Lara is propelled without any real motivation or credibility) concerns the search for the ancient lost city of El Dorado. So off to South America we go, where a bunch of Australian bad guys are also after the same thing. From here on in it seems like a mix of Predator-style chase set-pieces in the jungle, and an obligatory series of tricks and traps as Lara navigates her way through a subterranean temple. Obviously it's hard to make this kind of stuff not look like an Indiana Jones rip-off, but Friedman doesn't even seem to be trying -- she even has a colorful peasant guide to follow her around and be amazed by her ingenuity in defeating the various traps (just like Satipo at the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark).

"Lara's love interest is a shady local by the name of Dodge -- fortunately, they DON'T get it on, but there is some flirting. That seems to be about the one part of her character that they got right.

"After much more nonsense involving various boats, planes and more temples the pointless evilness of the Australians' scheme is revealed -- they're gonna detonate a nuclear device, for reasons which are never really made clear. Suffice to say, Lara saves the day and returns home to England safe and sound.

"This really is a bad script. The character of Lara is just wrong, wrong, wrong. She relies way too much on contrived James Bond-style high-tech gadgets (designed for her by a trio of geeky college kids who seem a lot like The X-Files' Lone Gunmen) than her own ingenuity and her motivation is... well, a mystery. It's never really explained why she does these things that she does, or who it is she's trying to help. She just kinda... does them.

"There's lots of other stuff but I don't want to bore you with it. Overall this script reads like a cross between Alan Quartermain (remember that?) and Anaconda, with lots of steamy jungle, perilous situations and a whole ton of characters you really couldn't care less about. The big question about who will play Lara is likely to remain unanswered for a while longer, because I doubt they'll convince any A or even B-list talent to sign on on the basis of this shoddy script. The whole strength of Tomb Raider is that Lara is a really cool and original character, but that potential has been completely passed over here.

"Oh, to be fair, there is ONE pretty good one-liner, but I won't spoil it for you...

The Agent doesn't paint a pretty picture for Lara's fans, and there seems to be nothing you can do about it, right? Well, don't give up just yet because there is a way to make your voice heard directly to the studio assembling the picture -- and it won't even cost you the postage for a stamp!

Paramount Pictures' website (www.paramount.com) has a email feature that encourages readers to contact them with their comments concerning their motion pictures. Right now Paramount's Tomb Raider is still in the embryonic stages of development -- nothing's been set in stone just yet. If enough people politely express to Paramount their displeasure, there does exist a chance the studio may look more closely at the current adaptation, rethink it again and commission a second, new approach to the material. The key words here are politely and intelligently: if Paramount sees that the Tomb Raider fans are a bunch of intelligent fans who can express their dissapointment in a civil fashion, you're speaking their language. And if any Hollywood studio would ever claim to be sensitive to its fans, it would have to be the one that developed the Star Trek franchise from a almost-forgotten television series into the billion-dollar franchise it is today, right guys?

Email your letters to '5555@paramount.com'. Let them know why you think the latest script isn't right for the film. Does it lack the game's action? Is Lara being handled faithfully for the big screen? What's missing from the script? Write to them and let them know. Sure, we believe any studio should be allowed the freedom to develop a franchise on its own terms but c'mon, Tomb Raider existed as a game before it was a franchise, and sometimes studios overlook that there already exists a proven, successful interpretation of the property in question. As the old saying goes, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater, right?

[Script review submitted by 'Agent 4125'.]

October 11, 1998...From the Australian women's magazine, New Idea, there is not only an article about Nell McAndrew, who is the Lara Croft model used to promote the game, but also an "Aussie bombshell" named Annalise Braakensiek, who either is put up by the writer of the article as being the perfect Lara or something. Our scooper says, "...it never actually said she was going for the role, it just says she has been attracting the attention of [A]merican agents." Our scooper ends his transmission with "It's probably a rumour of a rumour." Indeed. But aren't those the best kind? [Thanks to Red]

October 20, 1998... In response to the scoop concerning Annalise up for the role of Lara, this scooper responds "...I do not believe that she has attracted any interest to play this role." He goes on to say that although she and her publicist are working overtime to get her Australian career kicked off, he's doubtful she would be considered for a U.S. feature film at this time. [Scoop sent in by Moridin]

Related Sites:

Official Tomb Raider Movie Site

The Croft Times -- A great source for learning about everything surrounding the two Eidos games as well as the latest news on the movie. Created and maintained by Luis Cunha.



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