In the first bit of major casting news since Alicia Vikander was named the new Lara Croft back in April, Variety is reporting that Walton Goggins is set to play the villain in the upcoming Tomb Raider movie reboot.
It’s unclear who exactly the Justified, Vice Principals and Hateful Eight star will be, but there’s no question Goggins is a graduate of the Jack Nicholson school of sinister and unhinged. So we can expect to cheer when Vikander’s fledgling archaeologist inevitably puts a bullet, arrow or climbing axe through his skull.
As a quick recap of the project: after bouncing between different creative teams for several years, Tomb Raider – or The Tomb Raider as it’s rumoured to be called – will be brought to the screen by Norwegian director Roar Uthaug. Taking the 2013 video game reboot as its inspiration, the new Tomb Raider promises to dump the skimpy shorts and shark-riding silliness of the Angelina Jolie movies, in favour of a gritty, psychologically rich origin story. We’ll get to witness the British-heiress-turned-adventurer at the start of her career, when she’s just “becoming who she’s meant to be.” Evidently that involves investigating the fate of her long-missing archaeologist father.
Tomb Raider is set for release on 16 March 2018.
Before that, though, South Africans can keep an eye out for Vikander and co. in the flesh. Tomb Raider will be filming on location in Cape Town and surrounds in early 2017. And, apparently, if you’re a 15-19 year old Cantonese speaker, there’s work for you.