Angelina Jolie won’t play Lara Croft in the reboot: why is this a story?

For most of this dead gossip morning, one of HuffPo’s top Entertainment stories was about Angelina Jolie being “OUT” of her “iconic role” as Lara Croft. While I clicked on the story and read it, I was left with a serious case of “meh” face. We already knew that Angelina wasn’t going to be playing Lara Croft again – she’s said in several interviews over the past few years that she wasn’t interested, and there’s been gossip about a Jolie-less Lara Croft re-boot for years. So why all the drama? Why are people pushing this idea that Angelina was somehow pushed out of a role that she wanted? I literally have no idea.

The crux of the new gossip is that the rights to the Lara Croft property have just been bought by GK Films, which is headed by producer Graham King. Oh, and they want someone “young”. I guess that’s supposed to be the cut on Jolie? That she’s not “young” enough to play Lara Croft?

Lara Croft will be back — but an actress other than Angelina Jolie will be shooting the guns and wearing those tight short-shorts.

GK Films and producer Graham King (The Departed, The Town) have acquired the film rights to the sexy videogame heroine, with plans to reboot the Tomb Raider film franchise, Entertainment Weekly reports.

A pre-Brad Pitt Jolie, now 35, played daredevil archaeologist Lara Croft in two 2001 and 2003 blockbusters. (The action-adventure flicks grossed $432 million worldwide; while the Lara Croft video games have sold over 35 million units since launching in 1996.).

The next Tomb Raider film, slated for 2013, will be a “reboot” featuring a “young and dynamic Lara Croft,” according to the release posted at Deadline.com — which likely puts Jolie out of the running for the role.

Not that Jolie is that interested. Back in 2004, when asked about becoming Lara again, she told website Ugo.com, “I don’t think so. I just don’t feel like I need to, because I felt very happy with the last one, which was kind of the one we wanted to do. The first one kind of frustrated us, because we were trying something new. The second one, I felt like that’s kind of how I wanted to do it, and I don’t really feel the need to do another one.”

[From Us Weekly]

A couple of interesting tidbits: Graham King also produced The Tourist, and he and Jolie got along so well, he produced her directorial feature film debut, that still-untitled Bosnian love story. King has also got Jolie attached to a couple more of his projects too. So… something tells me that there’s a lot of professional respect between those two, and that if Jolie wanted it, she could have the Lara Croft role again.

Also: A few years ago, Megan Fox was considered the frontrunner to take over the Lara Croft role if and when there was ever a reboot. Unfortunately, Megan’s big mouth got in the way, and she made it clear that she didn’t wouldn’t want the part if it was ever offered to her. And the latest name to be pushed around is Olivia Wilde. Who would SUCK.

My hopes for the role: Mila Kunis (why not?) and…? I got nothing. Maybe they should actually go with a British chick this time. NOT KEIRA KNIGHTLEY.

Sigh… these old Lara Croft-era photos of La Jolie have made me nostalgic for the days when she would cut a bitch while boning them. I miss her!

Photos courtesy of WENN.