S Poddar
There are new reports that Sophie Turner is slated to play in a new series of Tomb Raider as the legendary Lara Croft. According to Deadline, the creator of Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is to adapt the action video game into a live-action version, and the star of Game of Thrones is on board. The news indicates that Turner is in talks to lead the show, just last month, it was rumored that she is in a race to land the role with Lucy Boynton, who stars in Bohemian Rhapsody.
This project is a significant priority for Amazon, being its first collaboration with Waller-Bridge since the writer and actress joined the company in 2019 on a reportedly $20 million per year deal. Speaking about this exciting project that was announced, Jennifer Salke head of Amazon Studios said:. “When we look at a long-term commitment to a creator like Phoebe – we’re so happy now that we retained her because she’s obsessed with and grew up playing Lara Croft/Tomb Raider,” Salke shared. “So the fact that she’s the creator and bringing this character to life, we think it’s going to be a huge franchise for us.”
Waller-Bridge is writing but also an executive producer on this series. She co-created Fleabag, on which she also starred, after that series went huge. Waller-Bridge has dipped her toes into behemoths with roles in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and co-writing on No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond. In an interview conducted with Vanity Fair in 2023, she admitted to being eager to play in the action genre. “The opportunity to have … a female action character … Having worked on Bond and having worked as an actor on Indy, I feel like I’ve been building up to this,” she said. “What if I could take the reins of an action franchise, with everything I’ve learned, with a character I love, and also just bring back some of that 90s vibe?
” Waller-Bridge also hinted that the series would bring something “dangerous and exciting” to the table, making the project even more appealing to fans of action-packed adventure. The actress has portrayed the character of Lara Croft twice in the past, Angelina Jolie, and now 2018 sees Alicia Vikander in a reboot.
More recently than this is Hayley Atwell’s voice in the Netflix animated take, but this live-action version seems poised to be forward-moving onto new paths which the debonair archaeologist adventurer will be embarking on in this incarnation. Turner is best known for playing Sansa Stark in the fantasy series Game of Thrones. She has kept busy with appearances in the X-Men franchise as the character Jean Grey and the crime drama The Staircase starring Colin Firth.
She was last seen in the lead of ITV drama Joan, based on the true story of Joan Hannington, and next set to appear in the thriller Haven, described as a heist film with plenty of suspense. The series has already created a huge buzz for this novel take on the classic character, and Waller-Bridge is bound to give a more profound tone to Lara Croft. This Tomb Raider adaptation may become one of the most awaited projects from Amazon. Fans await with bated breath to see how Turner will play the character through this ambitious new series led by the genius hands of Waller-Bridge.
