It’s too early to decide whether or not a Tomb Raider sequel will actually happen, but it’s definitely not too early to speculate.

The 2018 Tomb Raider, starring Academy Award-winning actress Alicia Vikander, marched into theaters on March 16, 2018 with a production budget of $94 million. After two full weekends in cinemas, its domestic box office total hangs right around $42 million. Worldwide, it’s made about $212 million.

Though it’s made its money back and then some, it’s clear this wasn’t the box office smash the studio was hoping for. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 50% “rotten” rating, while Metacritic scores it slightly lower at 48%.

The general consensus among reviewers is that Alicia Vikander is brilliant as the 2018 Lara Croft, but the story itself is a bit lacking. I found the tension palpable, and as far as action movies go, this one puts a female protagonist right in the middle of the fight. She’s smart, she’s tough, and she easily carries the weight of the movie on her shoulders.

The story was fine, and the twist near the end was interesting enough, though I found it hard to truly empathize with any of the characters. Not enough time was spent with any one of them, aside from Lara, and so they felt more like background props than real characters.

Why a ‘Tomb Raider’ (2018) sequel should be put into development

That being said, I still enjoyed the movie and I still think it’s important. Male-led action movies are a dime a dozen, especially during the summer months, but female-led blockbusters of this nature are rare enough to catch my attention. Atomic Blonde, Red Sparrow, and Wonder Woman immediately come to mind. They’re all vastly different movies, both from each other and from Tomb Raider, but they all put the female protagonist front and center, making her the hero instead of the damsel.

Alicia Vikander is a different kind of Lara Croft from Angelina Jolie’s. They’re both brilliant and capable, but Vikander is younger, a little less entitled, and still trying to find her place in the world. She’s naive and inexperienced, but she’s also a quick learner. Jolie’s Lara was sexy and seductive, while Vikander’s feels modern and realistic.

While it’s nice to get an origin story such as this, I’m ready to move onto a more confident and calculating Lara Croft in a Tomb Raider sequel. The end of the movie sets up plenty of fodder for a sequel, and it’s clear that Warner Bros. would love for this to turn into a franchise. It was quite the risk, considering video game movie adaptations have a notoriously bad track record, but betting on Alicia Vikander could never feel like a bad choice.

At the end of the day, money will determine whether or not a Tomb Raider sequel will be greenlit, but it’s definitely worthy of another chance. Now that the origin of Lara Croft is out of the way, the second movie can focus on character development and exciting plot twists to really grab hold of the viewer and take them along for the ride.

There’s another story here to tell, that’s for certain, and Vikander worked long and hard to be able to do as many of her own stunts as was possible. We need more women in roles like this, and whether or not the first Tomb Raider was a box office smash hardly matters. If a studio can make a profit, even a marginal one, then it’s worth putting their eggs in this basket.

The world is changing, and women want to see themselves in characters like Lara Croft. Hollywood better step up their game and get ahead while they can, or else they risk falling behind forever.