During the summer of 2003, the sequel, ''Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life'', made its way into theatres across the United States and other countries around the world.
'''Tagline''': ''Who is Lara Croft?''
Plot summary
A member of a rich British aristocratic family, Lara Croft is a tomb raider who enjoys collecting ancient artifacts from ruins of temples, cities, etc. worldwide, and doesn't mind going through death-defying dangers to get them. She is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, weapons training, and foreign languages - and does them all in tight outfits.The planets of the solar system are going into astronomical conjunction (which occurs every 5,000 years), and a secret society called the Illuminati is seeking an ancient talisman called The Triangle of Light that gives its possessor the ability to control time. The exact date when the movie is set is not given (although the 'first phase of the conjunctions' ''[sic]'' occurs on May 15), the plot perhaps is inspired from the real-life alignment that actually happened on May 5 2000.
The Illuminati need a certain clock/key called the All-Seeing Eye to help them in their search, and they have to find it in one week or wait for the next planetary alignment to find it again which will be in another 5,000 years. Lara happens to find the All-seeing Eye hidden in a wall of her mansion. The Illuminati steal it, and Lara gets an old letter from Lord Richard Croft, her deceased father, telling her about the society's agenda (her father was a defected member of the society who hid the key). Now, she must retrieve the key and find and destroy the talisman before the Illumanti can get their hands on it. Note: She eventually obtains The Triangle of Light and uses it to communicate with her father.
There are at least two references to the second game of the series, like the dagger of Xi'an which is auctioned. On the other hand, the plot presents some deviations from the games and the comics: while the comic-book Lara lost her parents in a plane crash, from where she was the only survivor, in the movie her mother died while she was little, while her father ''Richard'' (instead of Henshingly) died in 1985 'in the Field'. Also, her butler is the young Hilary, instead of the old Winston, appearing in the games (in the comics he is called Jeeves).
Main cast
* Angelina Jolie - Lara Croft* Jon Voight - Lord Richard Croft
* Iain Glen - Manfred Powell
* Noah Taylor - Bryce
* Daniel Craig - Alex West
* Richard Johnson - Distinguished Gentleman
* Chris Barrie - Hillary
* Julian Rhind-Tutt - Mr. Pimms
* Leslie Phillips - Wilson
Financing
* '''Tele-München Gruppe''': TMG is a German tax shelter. The tax law of Germany allows investors to take an instant tax deduction even on non-German productions and even if the film has not gone into production. By selling them the copyright for $94 million and then buying it back for $83.8 million, Paramount Pictures made $10.2 million.* '''Lombard Bank''': The copyright was sold again to this British investment group and a further $12 million was made. However to qualify for Section 48 tax relief, the production must include some UK filming and British actors.
* Presales to distributors in Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain made a further $65 million.
* '''Showtime''': $6.8 million for premium cable TV rights. (Showtime was a subsidiary of Paramount's parent company Viacom, until it became part of CBS Corporation at the end of 2005).
'''Total''': $94 million.
Source: Slate: How to finance a Hollywood blockbuster
Trivia
*The casting of Jolie was controversial among many fans of the ''Tomb Raider'' series, who felt she was physically inappropriate to play the large-breasted heroine; others complained about an American actress being hired to play a British character. Prior to Jolie being cast in the role, a staggering number of other actresses (and non-actresses), most notably Demi Moore, UK nude model Linsey Dawn McKenzie, Elizabeth Hurley, and even Anna Nicole Smith were all rumored by some media at one point to be in the running for the part. At the same time, several names bandied about in rumors as to who would play Lara's nemesis included Kevin Spacey and Sharon Stone.*Eidos, the publisher behind the ''Tomb Raider'' video game series, made a huge error in agreeing a deal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_Design#Tomb_Raider_film_royalities with Paramount Pictures; as a result, they received no royalties from the movie's colossal box office takings.
*Producer/screenwriter Steven E. de Souza, who wrote and directed the 1994 video game movie ''Street Fighter'', penned an early draft of the ''Tomb Raider'' script in 1999, but it was rejected by Paramount. However, it was partially resuscitated for the 2003 sequel ''Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life''.
*In 1998, writer Brent V. Friedman had also written an unproduced ''Tomb Raider'' script. The year before, another video game movie, the hugely disappointing ''Mortal Kombat: Annihilation'', which was co-written by Friedman, was in theaters.
*Early rumors circulated during production that whoever was cast as Lara would have to have their chest digitally enlarged. Jolie wore a padded bra during filming in order to approximate Lara Croft's physical dimensions (Jolie is a 36C; Croft is a 36D); this was abandoned for the second movie.
*Lara Croft's father, Richard Croft, is played by Jolie's real-life father, Jon Voight. Croft's canonical name was originally Henshingly, but it was retconned to Richard in the games.
*Portions of the movie were shot on location in Angkor, Cambodia, making it the first Western-produced picture to be filmed in the country since ''Lord Jim'' in 1964.
*''Tomb Raider'' marked the feature film debut of television actor Christopher Barrie (Hillary), who is best known for his role of "Arnold Rimmer" in the long-running BBC sci-fi comedy series ''Red Dwarf''.
*Richard Johnson (Distinguished Gentleman) turned down the role of James Bond for the film ''Dr. No'' in 1962, which ultimately led to Sean Connery taking the part.
*Not only does American actress Angelina Jolie adopt a English accent for the role of Lara, Iain Glen, who is Scottish, does likewise as villain Manfred Powell, while English actor Daniel Craig speaks with an American accent in his role of Alex West.
*The Buddhist ceremony in which Lara takes part (following the scene when she telephones Powell from Cambodia) was an actual occurrence and was not staged.
*When Lara calls Bryce from Cambodia, he is seen watching a claymation children's program on TV that takes place in outer space. Initially believed by US viewers to be a scene from the 1989 Academy Award-winning ''Wallace & Gromit'' short ''A Grand Day Out'', it was actually from a BBC animated series called ''The Clangers'', which ran from 1969 to 1974.
External links
*Film Sculptor Special Effects Sculptor who worked on the film*Lara Croft: Feminist Icon or Cyberbimbo?
*Raider'' at Codename-croft.com - Site dedicated to the first TR movie, cast list, synopsis, soundtrack info, weapons, gadgets, TR movie quiz
*Lara Croft in Russia - Leading Russian Site about Tomb Raider and Lara Croft
