Phoebe Waller-Bridge Developing Tomb Raider Series For Amazon

9 Comments | amazon, Amazon Prime, phoebe waller-bridge, tomb raider, video games | By Peter Paltridge | January 27, 2023 | 2 minutes of reading

Phoebe Waller-Bridge signed a deal with Amazon last year to produce exclusive original content for them, and as of today, we now know what the first of those will be. Surprisingly, it’s a Tomb Raider TV show. As reported by THR, Phoebe is writing the episodes and serving as executive producer, but is not playing Lara herself. She’s a bit too old to play the svelte adventurer.

Waller-Bridge tends to do good work. She’s most famous for creating and starring in Fleabag, but she was also responsible for the first season of Killing Eve (which turned out to be the best season) and she has her hands in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (who knows how that will turn out). Having her involved with Tomb Raider is kind of a curve. We know a lot of filmmakers have struggled to make Lara work as a film character.

The problem with Lara Croft is a problem with video game characters in general: they are power fantasies for the player and tend to have very little flaws, which isn’t very interesting removed from a video game’s context. If you change this, you run the risk of making the character unrecognizable. I’m interested to find out if Waller-Bridge can discover a solution to this problem.

You might be thinking, “Didn’t I already hear about a Tomb Raider TV show?” Yes, but that one stars Hayley Atwell (Agent Carter), it’s an anime, and it’s in development for Netflix, not Amazon. This does mean that Lara could be appearing on two different services at once. Rights are a weird thing.

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DR3WGAN

Drew Barrymore As M3GAN

39 messages 1 like

#1 Jan 28, 2023

What version of Lara are they going to use? The original arrogant sex symbol Lara or the 2013 resilient Survivor Lara?

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Kravn

Member

63 messages 0 likes

#2 Jan 28, 2023

Why they chose Phoebe Waller-Bridge, among the millions upon millions of other women who have written television shows? What a sad example she is! If they wanted a female writer, they could have hired Rhianna Pratchett, the creator of the reboot games. Rhianna Pratchett is now working in the television and film industries. Why do they keep giving established franchises to people who clearly dislike all of the cliches and genre norms that made the brand worthwhile to begin with? Even while I am fully aware that this is a rhetorical question, it is one that I would like to address to the powerful businesses and investors that shape these policies.

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Maverick

I hate WOKE trash

397 messages 4 likes

#3 Jan 28, 2023

This witch has exhausted all of her options for franchises to destroy. Both the movies Han Solo and the video game Rings of Power were critically derided and underperformed in the box office. Amazon is the only corporation that could have incurred such a large financial loss. Only Amazon has the financial resources to absorb such a loss; frankly, Bezos, put the money you're wasting on "woke" projects into your space program. Only Amazon has the financial means to absorb such a setback.

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MRoberts

Member

187 messages 12 likes

#4 Jan 28, 2023

To be honest, I have no idea what could possibly lead some people to such extreme hatred. Her work has received several honors, and the only people who have anything negative to say about the Lord of the Rings books are men who are uncomfortable with the idea of powerful women. Ignore those who are critical; she will be OK.

Reply Like

Kalle

変わって欲しくないよ。

975 messages 0 likes

#5 Jan 28, 2023

The hate is uncalled for, We don't even have a trailer to judge.

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Lara

Member

755 messages 9 likes

#6 Jan 28, 2023

There is a lot of potential here, but it is unclear if Amazon will be able to realize it. Another project that has the potential to be great is a TV show based on the Fallout video games. If people take a look at The Last of Us and see how skillfully the story is translated, they might be able to comprehend. The influence on overall competitiveness is the most intriguing aspect of this discussion. Will the translation be exactly the same or will it have a fresh perspective?

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Pio

Member

253 messages 23 likes

#7 Jan 28, 2023

Despite how much I enjoy the games, I think it would be more fitting to make a movie out of a game like Uncharted or Tomb Raider. It's obvious that Indiana Jones has influenced the approach they choose because most of the time there isn't enough compelling story material to support the creation of a television series. It makes perfect sense for Amazon to employ the same actress to provide her voice and likeness for both since it will be producing the series and the following game in the series.

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AbbyB13

Just call my name! Abbygail!

11 messages 0 likes

#8 Jan 29, 2023

I am excited to this show because of the writer is. I enjoyed rings of power and I will never understand those haters. These men are so threatened of a strong independent woman taking charge.

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Shogun_Master

Why is every good TV show Cancelled

2,279 messages 34 likes

#9 Jan 30, 2023

I'm not so sure this will work out. They can barely manage a Tomb Raider movie, and they want to make a serialized show, just because, what? The Last of Us did well? I'll be rooting for them to give us something great, all the same, though.

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