Netflix And Legendary To Expand ‘Skull Island’ And ‘Tomb Raider’ Universes With New Anime Series
Does your life need more King Kong-like monsters and Lara Croft? Well, Netflix and Legendary Television have got you covered. The streaming giant is teaming with the TV studio to expand the Skull Island and Tomb Raider universes with two new anime series.
Skull Island will be a new chapter in Legendary’s Monsterverse franchise and much like the 2017 Jordan Vogt-Roberts- directed movie Kong: Skull Island, the animated series will follow the adventures of shipwrecked characters that are trying to escape from the mysterious dangerous titular island home to prehistoric monsters, including the titan, Mr. Kong.
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Legendary’s Monsterverse kicked off in 2014 with Godzilla and then Kong: Skull Island followed by Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019. Things will come to a head in the next Monsterverse chapter with Godzilla vs. Kong which recently released a catastrophically jaw-dropping trailer. The new animated series will continue the story of these monsters and myths.
Brian Duffield (Underwater, The Babysitter) who will write and executive produce the anime series alongside Jacob Robinson who will executive producer under his company Tractor Pants. The animation studio behind Skull Island is Powerhouse Animation which is the company behind Castlevania and Blood of Zeus.
The Tomb Raider anime series will follow the uber-popular Square Enix video game. The series will pick up after the video game reboot trilogy, and follow heroine Lara Croft 25 years after her first game appeared as she explores new territory.
Tomb Raider has led to a global franchise encompassing movies, merchandise and comic books. The new Netflix-Legendary project marks Lara Croft’s first appearance in an animated series. The most recent game release, Shadow of the Tomb Raider garnered great acclaim.
In 2001, Angelina Jolie played the titular heroine in the feature Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and then reprised the role in the 2003 sequel Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life. In 2018, Alicia Vikander took over the role of Lara Croft in a new iteration of the film franchise and will step into the role once again in the sequel which will be written and directed by Lovecraft Country‘s Misha Green.
The anime series will be written by Tasha Huo (The Witcher: Blood Origin, Red Sonja), who will executive produce with dj2 Entertainment Founder and CEO Dmitri M. Johnson (Sonic the Hedgehog) as well as Stephan Bugaj and Howard Bliss. Jacob Robinson will also serve as EP on this series under his company Tractor Pants.
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