Alicia Vikander confirms Tomb Raider 2 is still in the works, though it hasn't been greenlit just yet. Following Angelina Jolie's turn as video game heroine Lara Croft, Oscar winner Vikander stepped into the role for 2018's Tomb Raider. A decent success after grossing $247.7 million worldwide, there were first rumblings of a sequel a year after Tomb Raider debuted. As the first film had acted as something of an origin story for Vikander's Lara, it wasn't too surprising that Warner Bros. would seek to make a franchise out of it,

However, Tomb Raider 2 has taken some time to get going. Ben Wheatley (Free Fire) was initially attached to direct, and the movie was slated for a 2021 premiere. However, Tomb Raider 2 ended up losing both Wheatley and that date last year and was pushed back indefinitely. There were more positive signs of progress in January, when Lovecraft Country creator Misha Green came on board as director. Green later shared a glimpse at the Tomb Raider 2 script, indicating she was hard at work on the film.

Related: Tomb Raider 2018 Is A Prequel-Reboot-Adaptation: A Brief Guide To Lara Croft's History

Still, it's been difficult for fans to gauge just where Tomb Raider is in the development process. Luckily, Vikander gave Collider an update while promoting her new film The Green Knight. Vikander confirmed it is still happening, but that the pandemic has slowed progress considerably. Additionally, it hasn't technically been greenlit, but she has hope. Vikander said:

“Pre-COVID, I would’ve said yes. And now I think it’s a yes still. It’s not greenlit, but the script is in the making, and I think everyone is excited and I would love to revisit Lara again.

“It’s very recent. It’s really now when the world is up and running again [that the script is being written], and Misha is onboard and she’s working on the script right now. So I’m very excited to sort of read something very soon.”

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Green completed the first draft of the Tomb Raider 2 script in May, so it's likely she is well into the second by now. Even now, the coronavirus pandemic is slowing the production process for many projects, and Tomb Raider 2 is one of those unlucky movies that have fallen to the wayside somewhat. However, Vikander's belief that the movie will happen, coupled with Green's continuing work on the script, indicates there is still plenty of life in Tomb Raider 2. It just might not happen until the end of 2021 at the earliest.

With the movie still in the development stage, very little is known about Tomb Raider 2. The first film ended with Lara realizing there was more to Croft Holdings and its relationship to the nefarious organization Trinity. Tomb Raider 2 will likely pick up on that thread and push Lara further down the path toward becoming the video game character fans know and love. When teasing the first draft of the script, Green said the working title for the film is Tomb Raider: Obsidian, which could provide even more story clues when one looks at the games. Progress might be slow for Tomb Raider 2, but this movie is far from dead.

More: Tomb Raider Makes One Irreversible Change to Lara Croft's Story

Source: Collider