The story of Lara Croft has been told time and time again, but Phoebe Waller-Bridge is excited to bring something new to the table. As the Fleabag creator continues to work on a Tomb Raider series for Amazon‘s Prime Video, the characterisation for Lara Croft is also starting to take shape.
Speaking to IGN, the actor shared how she can tap on her past stints and experiences for the reboot, which she described as “the perfect final step in my own personal adventure through this kind of franchise world.” While Waller-Bridge’s flair for comedy came through in Fleabag, she’s no stranger to the action-adventure genre, having penned the script for James Bond flick No Time To Die and starring in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
“There’s so much I can incorporate,” Waller-Bridge said. “I mean, the character of Lara Croft was inspired by Indiana Jones and James Bond. So there’s so much, and it just felt like the perfect final step in my own personal adventure through this kind of franchise world.”
“And, actually, through all the adventure stuff that I’ve learned from those [franchises], it’s actually how to keep something feeling grounded as well as allow it to be bigger than itself in some way. And so hopefully that will all translate perfectly, seamlessly into Tomb Raider,” she added.
The Tomb Raider series is still in early development, with Waller-Bridge attached as scriptwriter and executive producer. No release date or cast has been announced, though Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander have previously portrayed Lara Croft in live-action.
The Amazon show is part of a potential Tomb Raider universe that would span television, film, and games, and will mark the IP’s return to MGM after the studio lost the rights last year when it failed to greenlight a sequel to 2018’s Tomb Raider. A new-single player game developed by Amazon Games and Crystal Dynamics is also in the works.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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