Eidos to miss out on Tomb Raider millions?
Publisher misjudges jump and tumbles into lava
According to a report in The Times this weekend, Eidos may never see a penny of the $300m in box office receipts that the Tomb Raider movie is expected to earn worldwide. Despite getting terrible reviews and decidely mixed word of mouth, the film has already notched up over $100m in the USA and is now opening in the UK. But, if The Times is to be believed, Eidos settled for a mere £1m licensing fee from Paramount Pictures and the promise of a cut of the merchandising profits, with no royalties expected from the movie itself. Given that most game-inspired movies in the past have flopped this was perhaps a sensible decision without the benefit of hindsight, although it doesn't show much confidence in the pulling power of the Tomb Raider franchise.
Eidos also seem to have failed to take advantage of the renewed interest in Lara Croft, with no sign of a new Tomb Raider game to cash in on the movie, although there are rumours that a trailer for their next generation Tomb Raider game will be included on the DVD release later this year. The game itself isn't expected to be available until some time next year, and virtually nothing has been seen of it since the first renders and concept art were unveiled last November. In the meantime a new Tomb Raider title for the old GameBoy Color is due in August, but that will be distributed by Activision.