Silver screen Lara actress and director announced
Angelina Jolie cast for the highly coveted starring-role of Lara Croft in 'Tomb Raider'! Simon West to direct for Paramount Pictures
HOLLYWOOD, March 28th, 2000. Academy Award®-winning actress Angelina Jolie has been cast for the coveted starring role in Paramount Pictures' highly anticipated 'Tomb Raider', it was announced today by John Goldwyn, President of Paramount Motion Pictures.
Directed by Simon West ('The General's Daughter', 'Con Air'), the live-action feature film is inspired by the most popular interactive video character in history - Lara Croft. With brains to match her beauty, Lara is the computer-generated heroine of Eidos Interactive's phenomenally successful 'Tomb Raider' game series.
The Lawrence Gordon production is presently scheduled to commence principal photography this summer at Pinewood Studios. Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc. Producers are confirmed as Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin and Colin Wilson. Charles Cornwall, Eidos' Chief Executive Officer, is Executive Producer, with Bobby Klein as Co-producer. Screenplay is by Patrick Massett & John Zinman.
Angelina Jolie was recently awarded an Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress in 'Girl, Interrupted'. Her performance in the critically acclaimed film also brought Jolie her third Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She earned her first Golden Globe Award for TNT's 'George Wallace' and her second for HBO's 'Gia'. Both roles brought her Emmy Award nominations.
Prior to 'Girl, Interrupted', Jolie co-starred in 'The Bone Collector', 'Pushing Tin' and 'Playing by Heart' - for which she was awarded the Breakthrough Performance Award by the National Board of Review. Jolie also starred in 'Foxfire', 'Hackers' and Hallmark Hall of Fame's 'True Women'. Her upcoming films include 'Gone in Sixty Seconds' with Nicolas Cage, and 'Dancing in the Dark' with Antonio Banderas.
Lara Croft has become a worldwide phenomenon since her debut in 1996. She is the first female to star in her own action game series, which comprises the original 'Tomb Raider' along with 'Tomb Raider II: Dagger of Xian', 'Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft' and the recent 'Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation'. With total sales reaching 21 million units, the games have each topped the PlayStation and PC game best-seller lists.
Assertive, resourceful and independent, Lara is the first virtual celebrity to hold her own in a world of flesh and blood, non-virtual stars. She has appeared on over 200 magazine covers around the globe; Time magazine featured her in a major story in December 1999; and she has graced the pages of Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and Entertainment Weekly's 'It' issue (which feted the 100 most creative people in entertainment).
In addition, Details magazine heralded Lara as one of the 'Sexiest Women of the Year' (the only virtual celebrity so chosen), and The London Times recently devoted a special 16-page supplement to her. Time Digital included Lara on a list of the 50 cyber-elite in America, ranking her among Bill Gates, Andy Grove, Steve Jobs and George Lucas.
Lara has also appeared in television advertising campaigns across the US, Europe and Asia; she is the subject of more than 1,000 internet fan sites - each created independently of Eidos - and her merchandise includes action figures, comic books and a clothing range. In all, total game sales and related merchandise has generated $500 million. Lara's success has even inspired the world-famous Elite Modelling Agency to devote an entire division to developing virtual models; other companies are now following suit.
Eidos Interactive Inc. is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment products for the PC, PlayStation® game console, Dreamcast (TM) and Nintendo® Game Boy® Color. Eidos Interactive is part of London-based Eidos plc (NASDAQ: EIDSY) with additional offices in San Francisco, Paris, Hamburg, and Tokyo. For more information on Eidos Interactive's product line visit http://www.eidos.com
Directed by Simon West ('The General's Daughter', 'Con Air'), the live-action feature film is inspired by the most popular interactive video character in history - Lara Croft. With brains to match her beauty, Lara is the computer-generated heroine of Eidos Interactive's phenomenally successful 'Tomb Raider' game series.
The Lawrence Gordon production is presently scheduled to commence principal photography this summer at Pinewood Studios. Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc. Producers are confirmed as Lawrence Gordon, Lloyd Levin and Colin Wilson. Charles Cornwall, Eidos' Chief Executive Officer, is Executive Producer, with Bobby Klein as Co-producer. Screenplay is by Patrick Massett & John Zinman.
Angelina Jolie was recently awarded an Oscar® for Best Supporting Actress in 'Girl, Interrupted'. Her performance in the critically acclaimed film also brought Jolie her third Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She earned her first Golden Globe Award for TNT's 'George Wallace' and her second for HBO's 'Gia'. Both roles brought her Emmy Award nominations.
Prior to 'Girl, Interrupted', Jolie co-starred in 'The Bone Collector', 'Pushing Tin' and 'Playing by Heart' - for which she was awarded the Breakthrough Performance Award by the National Board of Review. Jolie also starred in 'Foxfire', 'Hackers' and Hallmark Hall of Fame's 'True Women'. Her upcoming films include 'Gone in Sixty Seconds' with Nicolas Cage, and 'Dancing in the Dark' with Antonio Banderas.
Lara Croft has become a worldwide phenomenon since her debut in 1996. She is the first female to star in her own action game series, which comprises the original 'Tomb Raider' along with 'Tomb Raider II: Dagger of Xian', 'Tomb Raider III: Adventures of Lara Croft' and the recent 'Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation'. With total sales reaching 21 million units, the games have each topped the PlayStation and PC game best-seller lists.
Assertive, resourceful and independent, Lara is the first virtual celebrity to hold her own in a world of flesh and blood, non-virtual stars. She has appeared on over 200 magazine covers around the globe; Time magazine featured her in a major story in December 1999; and she has graced the pages of Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and Entertainment Weekly's 'It' issue (which feted the 100 most creative people in entertainment).
In addition, Details magazine heralded Lara as one of the 'Sexiest Women of the Year' (the only virtual celebrity so chosen), and The London Times recently devoted a special 16-page supplement to her. Time Digital included Lara on a list of the 50 cyber-elite in America, ranking her among Bill Gates, Andy Grove, Steve Jobs and George Lucas.
Lara has also appeared in television advertising campaigns across the US, Europe and Asia; she is the subject of more than 1,000 internet fan sites - each created independently of Eidos - and her merchandise includes action figures, comic books and a clothing range. In all, total game sales and related merchandise has generated $500 million. Lara's success has even inspired the world-famous Elite Modelling Agency to devote an entire division to developing virtual models; other companies are now following suit.
Eidos Interactive Inc. is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment products for the PC, PlayStation® game console, Dreamcast (TM) and Nintendo® Game Boy® Color. Eidos Interactive is part of London-based Eidos plc (NASDAQ: EIDSY) with additional offices in San Francisco, Paris, Hamburg, and Tokyo. For more information on Eidos Interactive's product line visit http://www.eidos.com