‘Tomb Raider’ shows the trend of franchise renewal

This weekend, Warner Bros. and MGM released the film “Tomb Raider” with lofty expectations, reinvigorating a decade-old franchise last seen with Angelina Jolie. While the Jolie films were financially successful, they received mixed critical and audience reception and essentially faded away.

But with the rise of rejuvenated franchises in the last decade, the powers that be felt they could correct their wrongs with the last franchise and launch something new and exciting. The result: an opening of less than $25 million, and a second-place finish to a movie — albeit a historically successful one in “Black Panther” — that was in its fifth weekend.

This film fell flat on its face in the United States, but fascinatingly was a hit elsewhere, especially in China. While “Tomb Raider” came and went over a decade ago in the U.S., this is essentially a new franchise across the globe as American film has become much more popular.

As an action film, this is easy to sell for foreign audiences with a well-known character, and even though a movie already exists, this is the first time they can experience it on the big screen in a legitimate format. We’re living in a time when an American market is no longer the first priority a studio has when making a film, and while “Tomb Raider” is a disappointment here, it will have better success around the world.

The question is, what went wrong domestically with the latest “Tomb Raider”? First, we need to think about whether the world actually wanted another “Tomb Raider,” and then look at the marketing based on that answer.

Just because the world doesn’t want another movie doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be made. The easiest example is “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.” Here’s a franchise really no one wanted to see more of, yet Sony realized this and created something completely new that capitalized on the nostalgia of the original.

Like “Jumanji,” the answer is no, the world did not want a new version of “Tomb Raider.” These “Tomb Raider” adaptations have never caught fire at the box office, and the video game they’re based on is many years old at this point. So while it’s OK that no one wanted another “Tomb Raider” film, the movie would’ve had to be something really different to catch the public’s attention.

While “Jumanji” made an effort to be different than its predecessor, “Tomb Raider” essentially looked like more of the same movies from the past, but starring Alicia Vikander instead of Jolie. While there are similarities between the two actresses — both Oscar winners who, at the time, were on the cusp of stardom — Jolie was a sizably bigger name 15 years ago than Vikander is now. When you think of movie stars, do you ever think of Vikander?

Star power doesn’t go as far as it used to, so while a film could bank on a well-known star such as Jolie for business, that’s a less reliable formula now — especially when the star isn’t actually that famous. The star of the “Tomb Raider” series has to be Lara Croft, and unfortunately the filmmakers didn’t make her seem different enough this time around to strike a chord in the American zeitgeist.

Erik Benjamin is a senior television, radio and film major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at ebenjami@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @cokezeriksugar.