In the late 90’s when the video game truly began to take off, Brit actress and model Rhona Mitra was the first official LARA CROFT.

Because of her strikingly similar looks, she was hired by Eidos Interactive and paraded around video game and publicity events in the tight fitting costume, showing off all her curves and her pout as the female answer to INDIANA JONES.

Mitra who was in her early 20’s at the time, even got her breasts enhanced for the part and took classes in gaining confidence so during interviews she would have the presence that Lara showed off in the video games.

When Paramount Pictures went ahead with a big money live adaptation of the character, Mitra was deemed to be an unknown and with a lightweight CV was never seriously considered to lead such a huge project. They instead went for the much more experienced Angelina Jolie, who with the help of the series became a bonafide movie star.

Since Mitra was fired by Eidos as the “official Lara Croft model”, she has upped her acting game and most recently become a leading action lady in last year’s movies DOOMSDAY and UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS.

She now has a much healthier CV one which is so much more accommodating to studio execs looking to make the next big star.

After the disappointment that was LARA CROFT: THE CRADLE OF LIFE’s $65 million domestic gross (it was budgeted at nearly $100 million), Paramount Pictures let the rights expire to the series which have since been picked up by Warner Bros who obtained the rights when they upped their stake in Eidos. At least let’s hope they did, we don’t want to see a repeat of the Fox/WATCHMEN legal situation again.

The Hollywood Reporter say WB are pushing ahead with completely rebooting the TOMB RAIDER series and are on the lookout for writers, who have been given an open assignment to tackle the character’s origins in any way they see fit.

No actresses have been mentioned except it’s unlikely they will go after Angelina Jolie who wouldn’t come cheap and probably at this stage of her career wouldn’t come at all. And of course hiring Jolie defeats the purpose of a reboot.

But at this point they need a good writing team who can put together a script that takes what is basically an easy premise (a female INDIANA JONES) but that doesn’t copy the complete formula of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.