There had been plans for Alicia Vikander to return as Lara Croft in a sequel to 2018's Tomb Raider, but when MGM failed to get cameras rolling in time, a bidding war ensued between studios keen to reboot the video game property. Now, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Amazon Prime Video has acquired the franchise, and it sounds like they have some big plans for it.
That's going to start with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny star Phoebe Waller-Bridge (who wrote Daniel Craig's final James Bond movie, No Time to Die, and won an Emmy for her work on Fleabag).
No, she's not playing the adventurer and isn't expected to star in any capacity; instead, Waller-Bridge is developing a live-action TV series based on the hit video game franchise, with the trade explaining that she's writing the scripts for the project which has already received the green light from Amazon.
The writer and actress will also executive produce this Tomb Raider reboot and remains in high demand in Hollywood.
After signing an overall deal with Amazon, this arguably ranks as one of Waller-Bridge's biggest projects to date, and we hope she's ready to contend with picky video game fans!
At this stage, there's no word on who will play Lara Croft in this live-action reboot. Vikander starred in that disappointing reboot, following in the footsteps of Angelina Jolie. In the games, Camilla Luddington, Keeley Hawes, and Minnie Driver have all lent their voices to the iconic character, as did Hayley Atwell in an anime series on Netflix.
The 2018 movie was heavily inspired by newer video games that retold Lara's origin story and grounded her adventures in reality. It's unclear what direction this TV show will head in, but it might be fun to go back to some of the zanier ideas in those early PlayStation titles. Last year, it was confirmed that a new video game is in the works.
Stay tuned for updates.