The long-in-development Tomb Raider series from is facing trouble at Prime Video. In 2023, it was announced that Waller-Bridge, best known as the creator and star of the critically acclaimed series Fleabag, would be developing a new Tomb Raider series for Amazon's production arm. The project was officially greenlit in May 2024, and by November 2024, stars like Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones), Lucy Boynton (Sing Street), Mackenzie Davis (Terminator: Dark Fate), and Emma Corin (Deadpool & Wolverine) were all in consideration for the lead role of Lara Croft before Turner was confirmed to have the part.

According to a report by Puck, however, the Tomb Raider streaming series has majorly struggled behind the scenes. The article states that Amazon's Prime Video has spent tens of millions of dollars developing the series and has nothing to show. The series has already gone through two writers' rooms and still does not have a finished script. No word was given on Turner's connection to the project, though it seems the actress is still attached.

Former head of Amazon MGM Studios Jennifer Salke had initially signed Waller-Bridge for a $20 million-a-year development deal in 2019, which, partially due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, partially due to creative differences with Donald Glover on their original iteration of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, failed to produce any projects during the three-year window. Salke renewed Waller-Bridge's deal in 2022 for another three years, and personally oversaw Tomb Raider's development. Fast-forward to 2025, however, and still, Waller-Bridge has produced nothing and Tomb Raider is still nowhere close to being off the ground. And now the writer has now lost her biggest supporter, as Salke was fired from her position as head of Amazon MGM Studios and is now working under a producer deal with the studio.

Despite the popularity of the Tomb Raider video game series, the adaptation side of the franchise has long struggled. While the Angelina Jolie-starring Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was a box office hit, the sequel, The Cradle of Life, was a box office bomb. And the 2018 reboot starring Alicia Vikander was a modest hit that got mediocre reviews from critics and audiences alike. Lovecraft Country's Misha Green was set to helm a sequel to the 2018 Tomb Raider, titled Tomb Raider: Obsidian, with Vikander returning. But in July 2022, MGM Studios lost the rights to the Tomb Raider film franchise, and the sequel was canceled. This was around the time Amazon purchased MGM Studios and formed Amazon MGM, which resulted in the Tomb Raider film rights going back to video game creator Square Enix in January 2023.

The original plan was to connect a new Tomb Raider feature film to Waller-Bridge's planned Tomb Raider series and make an interconnected cross-platform story, similar to the MCU movies and series on Disney+. But with all the delays and production issues that Tomb Raider has faced in development, the question remains how long Amazon MGM Studios will continue to support Waller-Bridge's plans for the franchise. Even though Amazon MGM is now likely putting all of its focus on James Bond, Tomb Raider is still a valuable brand that they likely don't want to sit on for too long.

Puck News