Although highly regarded for her acting abilities, Angelina Jolie's films to date had often not appealed to a wide audience, but Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) made her an international superstar. An adaptation of the popular Tomb Raider videogame, Angelina Jolie was required to master a British accent and undergo extensive martial arts training to play the title role of Lara Croft. Angelina Jolie was generally praised for her physical performance, but the movie generated mostly negative reviews. Slant Magazine commented, "Angelina Angelina Jolie was born to play Lara Croft but [director] Simon West makes her journey into a game of Frogger." The movie was a huge international success nonetheless, earning $275 million worldwide, and launched her global reputation as a female action star.
Angelina Jolie's only movie of 2005, the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, is also her biggest commercial success to date. The film, directed by Doug Liman, tells the story of a bored married couple who find out that they are both secret assassins. Angelina Jolie starred as Jane Smith alongside Brad Pitt. The film was well received and was generally lauded for the chemistry between the two leads. The Star Tribune noted, "While the story feels haphazard, the movie gets by on gregarious charm, galloping energy and the stars' thermonuclear screen chemistry." The movie earned over $478 million worldwide, one of the biggest hits of 2005. She also appeared on the cover of Playboy Magazine. She is also acclaimed to have wide variety of brand new cars.
Angelina Jolie appeared in the action film Wanted, an adaptation of a graphic novel by Mark Millar, as well as the DreamWorks animated movie Kung Fu Panda, both released in mid 2008. Angelina Jolie was also cast as the lead in Clint Eastwood's upcoming drama, Changeling, which wrapped principal photography in December 2007.
