Chart a course for adventure and hide your precious relics because Sophie Turn is negotiating to play Lara Croft in Prime Video’s Tomb Raider series from Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. If Turner lands the coveted role, she’ll join Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander as actresses, bringing the legendary video game character to life in live-action. According to Deadline, they heard Sophie Turner aced her screen test, making her the obvious choice to play the ponytailed pottery smasher.
Speaking about the series, Amazon MGM Studios Head Jennifer Salke said Waller-Bridge’s adaptation is an “epic” and “globe-trotting” passion project that the studio is eager to tackle. Echoing Salke’s excitement, Waller-Bridge said, “If I could tell my teenage self this was happening I think she’d explode. Tomb Raider has been a huge part of my life and I feel incredibly privileged to be bringing it to television with such passionate collaborators. Lara Croft means a lot to me, as she does to many, and I can’t wait to go on this adventure. Bats’ n all.”
“God, it literally felt like that teenager in me saying: do right by her, do right by Lara,” Waller-Bridge said when Amazon approached her about the Tomb Raider series. “The opportunity to have, as we were talking earlier, 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. What if I could take the reins on an action franchise, with everything I’ve learned, with a character I adore, and also just bring back some of that ’90s vibe? And it’s such a wonderful feeling to think you know what to do.”
Before today, Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) and Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody) were in the running for the role. Turner appears to be the favorite, with wishlist names like Emma Corrin and Mackenzie Davis falling away from the competition.
Tomb Raider is steadily returning to the public consciousness with Netflix’s Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, a new game in development and possibly a new movie on the way. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is the perfect creator to help bring Lara back to the limelight, and with Sophie Turner along for the wild ride, Tomb Raider fans could be eating well in the coming years. Let’s f**king go!