It might surprise you to know that the most successful movie based on a video game at the U.S. box office was the 2001 release “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” starring Angelina Jolie.
Not particularly beloved by anyone, that movie grossed $131,168,070 at the U.S. box office, or about $183 million in inflation-adjusted dollars. That’s a respectable showing that was enough to spawn sequel, and that puts it at the top of a long list of video game movie adaptation failures, according to data from BoxOfficeMojo.
To be fair, some of these duds, like “Warcraft” in 2016, did find success overseas. That was also the case for “Assassin’s Creed” last year. U.S. audiences, however, remain pretty “meh” about the whole genre.
But Warner Brothers is trying once again with a reboot of “Tomb Raider” starring Swedish actress Alicia Vikander. Today, audiences get their first glimpse with the release of its first official trailer.
The timing could be just right given the surge in female-driven action hits, from “Hunger Games” to “Wonder Woman.” Of course, it may depend on whether the film, scheduled to be released in March 2018, is remotely decent.