How 'Rebecca' set Ben Wheatley up for the challenge of 'Tomb Raider 2' (exclusive)

Director Ben Wheatley has revealed the key lesson he learned while making Rebecca that he hopes will set him up for Tomb Raider 2, his largest scale production yet.

“Working with a bigger crew,” he laughs, speaking to Yahoo about the key takeaway from his new Netflix film. “Earlier films I did were run and gun, [with] actors on set the whole time, and less gaps between set ups.”

“On a straightforward level, Rebecca was a slower process: ‘How do you keep the concentration of everyone together over that longer period?’ so that’s been the main difference.

Read more: Ben Wheatley: Being an actor can be 'damaging', but it's part of the profession

“[But] once you're on the floor and working with actors, it’s the same whether that's on a mobile phone or a massive crew, big Hollywood actors or non actors, it's all the same stuff once they are performing.”

The sequel to 2018’s Tomb Raider was due to start filming earlier in 2020 for a March 2021 release, but the coronavirus pandemic postponed the entire production.

Alicia Vikander, who will return as Lara Croft, revealed earlier in October that the cast and crew are “still in discussions” for when they may kick off filming but that they are hopeful “we can probably get to it next year.”

As for how Wheatley’s earlier films such as Kill List continue to influence his new projects – including Rebecca – he reveals that “every bit of work influences every other bit of work.”

Watch: A clip from Wheatley’s previous film Happy New Year Colin Burstead

“I think that I have been moving towards – through the Colin Burstead film – a world where [my films are] still violent but it’s emotional violence.

“You have physical and emotional but they're the same thing, both are affecting in the same way. Tension is also a thing that's very hard on an audience as well – feeling nervous for two hours can be just as affecting as seeing a fight scene or car crashes or giant robots punching each other.”

Rebecca is in select cinemas now and on Netflix on 21 October.