(Gaydon, Warwickshire, 20 February, 2001) - A Land Rover Defender will star in Paramount Pictures' eagerly anticipated live-action adventure movie "Tomb Raider," which opens in the United States and Canada on June 15, 2001. Angelina Jolie, in the title role of Lara Croft, will use the vehicle to guide her through danger, and allow her access to remote and rugged locations in her fearless quest criss-crossing the globe. The "Tomb Raider" Defender will be on display at the Geneva Motor Show on 27 February.

Lara Croft's V8-powered Defender is based on the 110 high capacity pick up, and has been specially modified by Land Rover's own special vehicles operation, in conjunction with Paramount Pictures. Bonatti grey in colour with aluminium tread plates and bumpers, the unique Defender is fitted with a "Heritage" type grille and four Safari headlamps glaring from the front of the roof rack. Extra accessories to aid Lara in her adventures have also been added, including an expedition tool kit comprising a shovel and axe at the front, a winch at the rear, navigation screen and emergency stop buttons.

The Defender is not the only Land Rover vehicle to star in the movie. "Tomb Raider" fans will see the complete product line up, which also includes the Freelander, Discovery and Range Rover. The Range Rover plays a particularly prolific role, as the vehicle of Lara's wealthy arch-enemy Powell. The Discoverys are driven by his evil henchmen.

Simon West, film director of "Tomb Raider," says: "The Defender was the perfect choice to star as Lara's vehicle. The entire theme of the film is based on action and adventure, so Lara's vehicle had to be one rugged enough to match up to all the challenging stunts."

Land Rover will be launching two ranges of Lara Croft "Tomb Raider" Defenders to markets worldwide later this year.

The "Tomb Raider" movie is inspired by the most successful interactive video game character in history - Lara Croft. Beautiful and brainy, Lara is the heroine of Eidos Interactive's phenomenally successful "Tomb Raider" game series. It is one woman's fearless quest criss-crossing the globe.

Paramount Pictures and Lawrence Gordon present in association with Mutual Film Company, a Golar / Eidos plc Production, "Tomb Raider," starring Academy Award® winner Angelina Jolie, and directed by Simon West ("The General's Daughter," "Con Air"). The Simon West Film is produced by Lawrence Gordon ("Die Hard," "Predator," "48 Hours"), Lloyd Levin ("Boogie Nights") and Colin Wilson ("Jurassic Park: The Lost World"). Jeremy Heath-Smith is the executive producer, and Bobby Klein is the co-producer. The screenplay is by Patrick Massett, John Zinman and Simon West based on the Eidos Interactive game series developed by Core Design. The film also stars Jon Voight, Noah Taylor, Daniel Craig, Iain Glen, Leslie Phillips and Christopher Barrie. This film is not yet rated.

Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc., which is one of the world's largest entertainment and media companies, and a leader in the production, promotion, and distribution of entertainment, news, sports, and music. "Tomb Raider" is being co-financed by Paramount Pictures and Mutual Film Company. Paramount Pictures will release the film theatrically in the U.S. and Canada on June 15, 2001. Mutual Film Company will distribute internationally in Germany, Japan, Italy, and Korea through its local partners, and in the rest of the world through Paramount/UIP.

Eidos Interactive is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment products for the PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 as well as the Internet. Eidos Interactive is part of London-based Eidos PLC (Nasdaq: EIDSY), which also includes Eidos Technologies, a software-based video compression company; and Glassworks, a state-of-the-art post-production facility specializing in digital effects for the television, feature film and advertising industries.

For more than 50 years Land Rover has designed and built four-wheel-drive vehicles with true rugged capability. Land Rover, based in Solihull, England forms part of Ford Motor Company's Premier Automotive Group, whose headquarters are in London. The chairman is Dr. Wolfgang Reitzle and Land Rover is one of five Premier Automotive Group brands, the others being: Jaguar, Aston Martin, Volvo and Lincoln.

"Tomb Raider" and Lara Croft are trademarks of Core Design Ltd. All rights reserved.

Land Rover supplied two Defenders (110 HCPUs), two Discoverys, one Range Rover and one Freelander V6 for the filming of Tomb Raider.