MGM Only Has MGM To Blame For Losing ‘Tomb Raider’

The Amazon-owned MGM had until May 1st to start filming a new installment of Tomb Raider with Alicia Vikander or lose the rights to the property. They…did not start filming.

That’s what is known in the higher echelons of the entertainment business world as a “whoopsie.” As a result, MGM no longer has the rights to the property, and a bidding war has broken out among pretty much every major company to snatch them up from Square Enix to make their own version. That includes Warner Bros., Netflix, and, you guessed it because you love irony, Amazon. It will be the best twist of all if Amazon buys back the thing it just lost.

According to blame game fans talking to The Wrap, the delay was either due to an inflated budget and disagreements between Vikander and writer/director Misha Green, or the profound lack of urgency on MGM’s part. One person familiar with the situation said, “They had a window they missed… Theoretically, this was an MGM fuck up.”

Regardless of script issues or creative differences between key personnel, that’s the right take. MGM had a deadline and should have done the work to get cameras rolling, whatever that work entailed. Now, they have no Lara Croft, whatever money they had already put into development is down the toilet, and their parent company might have to shell out more cash just to re-secure the privilege to make the thing MGM already forgot to make.

Think about that the next time you procrastinate, and don’t be so hard on yourself.

(via The Wrap)