Lara Croft made her return to the big screen this weekend, with Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander taking on the role of the iconic video game character for the Tomb Raider reboot [read our review here].
Despite losing out on top spot in North America, grossing $23.5 million in second place behind Black Panther, Tomb Raider ruled the international markets, taking in $84.5 million for a total worldwide weekend of $108 million.
The $94 million-budgeted film had already grossed $14.2 million, having opened a week earlier in Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan, meaning it now sits on $126 million in total.
The reboot enjoyed its biggest success in China, pulling in $41.1 million, putting it in line with the debuts for Wonder Woman and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.
For comparison, the Angelina Jolie-headlined Lara Croft: Tomb Raider opened to $47.7 million domestically back in 2001, and grossed $274.7 million worldwide from a budget of $115 million. The 2003 sequel Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life managed just $21.8 million in its domestic opening weekend, on its way to $156.5 million in total.
SEE ALSO: The Making of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – An Oral History
Lara Croft is the fiercely independent daughter of an eccentric adventurer who vanished when she was scarcely a teen. Now a young woman of 21 without any real focus or purpose, Lara navigates the chaotic streets of trendy East London as a bike courier, barely making the rent, and takes college courses, rarely making it to class. Determined to forge her own path, she refuses to take the reins of her father’s global empire just as staunchly as she rejects the idea that he’s truly gone.
Advised to face the facts and move forward after seven years without him, even Lara can’t understand what drives her to finally solve the puzzle of his mysterious death. Going explicitly against his final wishes, she leaves everything she knows behind in search of her dad’s last-known destination: a fabled tomb on a mythical island that might be somewhere off the coast of Japan. But her mission will not be an easy one; just reaching the island will be extremely treacherous. Suddenly, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Lara, who—against the odds and armed with only her sharp mind, blind faith and inherently stubborn spirit—must learn to push herself beyond her limits as she journeys into the unknown. If she survives this perilous adventure, it could be the making of her, earning her the name tomb raider.
