Watch Order (Release = Chronological)Recommended
0 / 3 watchedThe three films as released. Each is a fresh start.
- 1 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
- 2 Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life Ends on an unresolved sequel hook.
- 3 Tomb Raider 2018 reboot in the game reboot continuity.
About Tomb Raider
Lara Croft has had three screen lives that never touch. The Jolie duology (2001, 2003) is globetrotting pulp at its most 2000s, all Illuminati artifacts and time machines. The 2018 reboot with Alicia Vikander adapts the 2013 game continuity instead: younger, scrappier, grounded in the Yamatai shipwreck.
Each version stands alone, so pick the Lara you want: Jolie for the classic icon, Vikander for the origin story. Release order across all three shows the evolution best. Amazon's live-action series with Sophie Turner filmed through 2026 and will start a fourth continuity, while Netflix's animated Legend of Lara Croft continues the games, not the films.
Good to know
The Cradle of Life ends on a sequel hook that never paid off, so expect an unresolved Pandora's Box thread. The 2018 film quietly sets up a follow-up that also never came, which is why the Amazon series is the franchise's actual future. The Netflix anime is canon to the Survivor game trilogy, so film viewers can skip it without missing anything. No release date for the Amazon series had been set at the last check.
