Amazon Prime Video Offers Update on 'Tomb Raider' Show

Amazon Prime Video Offers Update on 'Tomb Raider' Show,Amazon Studios is still moving forward with a Tomb Raider series, but there are questions about how the project will come to fruition. In a report on Amazon's ongoing struggle to find an identity for its streaming platform, executive Vernon Sanders hit back at criticism of the nascent project. [...]

Amazon Prime Video Offers Update on ‘Tomb Raider’ Show

Amazon Studios is still moving forward with a Tomb Raider series, but there are questions about how the project will come to fruition. In a report on Amazon’s ongoing struggle to find an identity for its streaming platform, executive Vernon Sanders hit back at criticism of the nascent project. Fleabag mastermind Phoebe Waller-Bridge was hired to write it, but not star in it, and some Amazon insiders have reportedly questioned how much work she plans to do on the show.

The insiders told The Hollywood Reporter that Amazon Studios is still searching for a showrunner to oversee the project, which leads to questions about what Waller-Bridge’s role will be. Sanders, Amazon Studios’ head of television, hit back at the idea that she isn’t closely involved. “Phoebe has not only fully embraced Tomb Raider and I think is feeling very committed to it, but she’s in a writers’ room right now working on it,” Sanders said. Waller-Bridge declined to comment on the report.

After Fleabag Season 2 swept the Emmys in September 2019, Amazon jumped at the chance to sign Waller-Bridge to a three-year, $20 million overall deal. Her first project was set to be a Mr. & Mrs. Smith series remake with Donald Glover, but she left that project over creative differences. Her first contract ended without any new project, but Amazon still renewed her contract. Shortly afterward, The Hollywood Reporter reported in January that Waller-Bridge would work on the Tomb Raider series.

Waller-Bridge, who stars in Disney’s upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, is developing other projects for Amazon, Vernon told THR. “She’s a perfectionist, so she absolutely wants to make sure that what she does is great and right, but she’s proven that when she does deliver, she delivers,” he said.

Tomb Raider wound up at Amazon after a sequel to the 2018 Tomb Raider starring Alicia Vikander got stuck in development hell. In July 2022, Vikander said she really liked Lovecraft Country creator Misha Green’s ideas for Tomb Raider 2, but Amazon’s acquisition of MGM put everything on hold. Days after that comment, MGM lost the film rights, which then reverted back to video game studio Square Enix and producer Graham King.

Amazon snapped up the rights to Tomb Raider, with THR reporting in January that the tech giant is committing to making an interconnected franchise. In addition to Waller-Bridge’s series, there would be a film. Both would tie into a new Lara Croft video game that Amazon will publish as part of a deal with Crystal Dynamics.

Lara Croft’s treasure-hunting adventures first came to the big screen in 2001 with Angelina Jolie playing the character in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. She returned for the 2003 sequel, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life. Those films were both produced by Paramount. Vikander’s movie was produced by MGM with Warner Bros. and grossed $274.7 million worldwide. The Waller-Bridge-written series could be the first Tomb Raider TV show since the 10-part Revisioned: Tomb Raider. Netflix and Legendary Entertainment planned an anime series in 2021, but that has yet to be released.

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