'Tomb Raider', 'Skull Island' anime series coming to Netflix
Square Enix’s fan favorite heroine and Legendary’s Monsterverse are getting their respective anime adaptations on Netflix.
Apart from the previously announced anime adaptation of Pacific Rim, Netflix revealed on Thursday that they are also expanding the universes of Legendary’s Skull Island as well as Square Enix’s popular video game franchise Tomb Raider with two new anime series.
Netflix said that Skull Island will feature a new chapter in the Monsterverse franchise and will follow a group of survivors who find themselves stranded in the most dangerous place on Earth—a mysterious island home to prehistoric monsters, including the Eighth Wonder of the World, Kong.
Legendary's Monsterverse started with Godzilla in 2014, which was followed by 2017’s Kong: Skull Island and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The next chapter in the franchise, Godzilla vs. Kong, will feature the forthcoming epic battle between the Primeval Champion and The King of the Apes.
Brian Duffield (Underwater, The Babysitter) will write and executive produce the anime series together with Jacob Robinson. Powerhouse Animation, the studio behind Castlevania and Blood of Zeus, is also behind the anime project.
The upcoming Tomb Raider anime series, on the other hand, will pick up after the events of the video game reboot trilogy and will follow Lara Croft’s latest adventure, 25 years after her first game appeared.
The bow-and-arrow wielding heroine first appeared in the big screen in 2001's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider with Angeline Jolie in the titular role, followed by 2003's sequel Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life.
After several years, Alicia Vikander took on the role of Lara Croft in the 2018 reboot. Vikander is also expected to reprise her role in the upcoming sequel by Lovecraft Country‘s Misha Green.
Tasha Huo (The Witcher: Blood Origin, Red Sonja), has been tapped to write and executive produce the anime adaptation together with dj2 Entertainment Founder and CEO Dmitri M. Johnson (Sonic the Hedgehog), Stephan Bugaj, Howard Bliss and Robinson.
Netflix revealed last October that a number of anime shows are coming to the streaming service as part of its efforts to bolster its library of anime titles. This includes Rilakkuma’s Theme Park Adventure, Thermae Romae Novae, High-Rise Invasion, Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan and The Way of the Househusband.
The streaming giant is also working on various anime projects based on popular game titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Resident Evil, The Witcher as well as an anime adaptation of Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo’s Philippine graphic novel, Trese.