The planned Tomb Raider TV series has been permanently entombed, according to a new report.
The Daily Mail – yes we know – says Amazon has pulled the plug on the television show that’d bring Lara Croft to Prime Video. The publication says the show is ‘dead’ according to sources, after years in ‘development hell’.
Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge was writing the script and Sophie Turner had been reportedly lined-up to emerge from the post-Game of Thrones wilderness to play the iconic lead character.
Perhaps this shouldn’t be so surprising, given Waller-Bridge’s massive deal with Amazon (thought to be worth $20 million per year) has yet to result in anything being actually broadcast, or even committed to film.
The series reportedly began development in 2019 when the Killing Eve writer signed on with Amazon. Three years after Waller-Bridge had produced nothing, Amazon MGM exec Jen Salke reportedly renewed the deal.
Puck (via ScreenRant) reported last month: “Tomb Raider, which Waller-Bridge has been working on and which Salke was personally overseeing after announcing a series pickup last May, has now gone through two writers rooms and tens of millions of dollars in development costs. There’s still no script.”
Whether Amazon will look to revive the idea under different leadership, with new writers and show runners, remains to be seen. For now it appears that Amazon has finally given up the ghost on raiding tombs and we won’t be getting a high-quality adaptation akin to Prime Video’s Fallout coming to the best streaming devices.
Opinion
Amazon has made some questionable decisions for Prime Video content over the years, but the decision to throw tens of millions at Waller-Bridge appears to be the apex.
Lara deserved better.
