Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life
2003 film directed by Jan de Bont
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life is a 2003 action adventure film directed by Jan de Bont and written by Dean Georgaris, based on the Tomb Raider video game series by Core Design. Angelina Jolie stars as the title character Lara Croft with supporting performances from Gerard Butler, Ciarán Hinds, Chris Barrie, Noah Taylor, Til Schweiger, Djimon Hounsou, and Simon Yam. An international co-production between the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Hong Kong and Japan, the film is a sequel to the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and is the second installment in the Tomb Raider film series. The plot centers around Lara Croft as she embarks on a quest to save the mythical Pandora's box while recruiting a former Marine turned mercenary to assist her.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life was released in the United States on July 25, 2003, by Paramount Pictures. Critics considered it to be better than its predecessor, especially in terms of its action sequences, and continued to praise Jolie's performance. The film did not achieve the same level of box office success as the previous installment, grossing $160.1 million compared to its predecessor's $275 million. Initially, plans were made for a sequel, but these plans were abandoned when Jolie decided not to return as Croft. A reboot of the series, simply titled Tomb Raider, was released in 2018 with Alicia Vikander taking over the title role.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life also marks the final film directed by De Bont before his retirement in 2012.
The public source identifies “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life” as 2003 film directed by Jan de Bont. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Lara, Croft and Tomb.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1125253. VIAF identifies the subject as 178464761. The Library of Congress control number is no2003074172. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2003, 2001, 2018 and 2012.
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