Following Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s breakthrough success with Fleabag in 2019, she quickly secured an agreement with Amazon Studios. In the seven years since, however, that deal has yielded little output. She had a short-lived involvement in the streamer’s reboot before departing over creative disagreements. One project, however, remained a constant prospect: a series featuring Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner as Lara Croft. Now, we have our first glimpse of the lead actress.
An Amazon press release states the image below signifies the start of production for the series, which also features Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs, and Martin Bobb-Semple. Although a release date is still unknown, the series has at last emerged from development hell and is expected to premiere in the coming years.
While the photo reveals little, fans of the original games will observe that Turner is dressed in the archaeologist’s iconic attire, complete with her signature thigh holsters and the turquoise tank top she wore in the first five games. Perhaps this suggests the series will draw inspiration from the franchise’s more pulpy origins instead of the darker reboot games, but this is merely speculation.
The Lara Croft character has been adapted for film multiple times, and more recently was revitalized with an animated series. However, the franchise has never ventured into live-action television, and Waller-Bridge could be the ideal person to succeed. She has demonstrated her capability in the adventure genre, having contributed to the script for the most recent James Bond film and appearing in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It remains to be seen what she will achieve with full creative authority.