UPDATED: Amazon Studios has hired Phoebe Waller-Bridge to write a TV series as part of a potential Tomb Raider universe that would span TV, film and games. According to sources, the TV series is in the works of prolific Waller-Bridge, creator of Fleabag and Killing Eve and writer of No Time To Die and Solo: A Star Wars Story, and she may also have a hand in the potential film. dj2’s Dmitri Johnson, who secured the rights to the IP, is overseeing the development of the franchise and producing.
The projects are part of a cross-platform Tomb Raider universe put together by Amazon that also includes games; Amazon Games and Crystal Dynamics announced a few weeks ago an agreement to develop a new Tomb Raider single player game.
It’s an approach Amazon is adopting more and more often. Amazon Studios last month acquired the global rights to Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 game for Henry Cavill to star and produce the franchise in a universe that will include TV series, movies and likely games and animation.
On the TV series Tomb Raider, which has been following Deadline through the deal-making process for several weeks, Waller-Bridge is collaborating with Ryan Andolina, former Head of Comedy at Amazon Studios, and Amanda Greenblatt, most recently Head of First- Appearance and general offers. As Deadline reported in December, the duo left their posts to start a production company together based out of Amazon Studios. Andolina had a close relationship with Waller-Bridge, and there has been speculation of a formal or informal partnership between the Emmy-winner and the producing duo. Legendary is also said to be involved as the rights holder; The company is also behind an anime Tomb Raider series on Netflix.
For Waller-Bridge, Tomb Raider falls under her overall deal with Amazon Studios, which he recently renewed.
This marks the return of Tomb Raider to the MGM family. The studio had the rights to produce the film franchise, which has spawned three films until last year when Graham King’s GK Films listed the property. MGM is now owned by Amazon; Interestingly, the planned Tomb Raider movie-TV universe is in the hands of Amazon Studios, not MGM.
Angelina Jolie launched the film series in 2001 with Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, followed two years later by a sequel, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, both through Paramount. Alicia Vikander took on the role for the Warner Bros. distributed reboot of Roar Uthaug in 2018.
A sequel to this film had been in the works at MGM with Vikander since 2019. Plans for this film, set for a March 2021 release, have been derailed by the pandemic and other factors.
The action-adventure game was a smash hit after its debut in 1996, spawning several sequels and eventually the film adaptations starring Jolie.