Will The ‘Tomb Raider’ Reboot Get A Sequel?

“Tomb Raider” didn’t exactly slay at the box office in the U.S., but that might not matter. The worldwide box office could be enough for the movie to earn a sequel.

The most important thing for a movie to do is earn back its budget. As “Tomb Raider” producer Graham King explained, that means people have to buy tickets.

“Sequels depend on audiences connecting with a film, and us finding the audience. This isn’t a $5 million film, so people have to show up to see it,” King told Metro.

According to Box Office Mojo, “Tomb Raider” is a $94 million film, so its estimated $23 million opening in the U.S. doesn’t exactly have anyone screaming for a sequel (The original 2001 “Tomb Raider” film earned over $47 million in the first weekend). However, international moviegoers have a much bigger appetite for the Alicia Vikander film.

“Tomb Raider” opened to $41.1 million in China, making it Warner Bros.’ seventh largest opening at the Chinese box office. The movie’s foreign box office overall has earned an estimated $102 million, bringing the worldwide box office total to over $126 million. That means the movie has likely earned back its production budget and some of its marketing budget. That’s good news for those who want a sequel.

“If audiences come to see the film then we’ve done our jobs and we have a possible franchise on our hands,” King added. “Certainly Alicia is invested in more than one movie, as am I, and we are clearly not shy about that at the end of the film.”

[Spoiler Alert: The end of “Tomb Raider” is discussed below.]

The movie ends with Lara realizing that Ana Miller (Kristin Scott Thomas) wasn’t just a caring guardian and a Croft Corporation executive. Ana is leading Trinity, the evil organization that employed Mathias Vogel (Walter Goggins), the villain Lara just defeated.

Clearly, Ana will be Lara’s next target should the “Tomb Raider” sequel get the green light.

Warner Bros. has not made any announcements about “Tomb Raider 2” yet.