Amazon has epic plans for Tomb Raider

Amazon reportedly wants to turn Tomb Raider into a ‘Marvel-like franchise’ with an interconnected universe spanning video games, films and TV series.
The Hollywood Reporter says Amazon’s ambitions for Lara Croft go far beyond the agreement to publish the next Tomb Raider video game in the series, which we learned late last year. Crystal Dynamics will produce the game, but it’ll be published by Amazon as part of a major push into the gaming industry.
Sources told THR that Amazon has penned a deal with Dmitri M. Johnson’s dj2 Entertainment for a new Tomb Raider film, which would be the first since the self-titled 2018 reboot starring Alicia Vikander as Lara.
That’s to go along with the TV series being written by Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge and, potentially, more video games.
While, in isolation, this isn’t exactly huge news, the plans to weave everything together as a universe in a Marvel-like fashion should raise some excitement among fans of the longstanding franchise.
Amazon is spending big money to bring all of this together, putting it in the same ballpark as The Lord of the Rings rights acquired a few years back.
“One source with knowledge of the pact described it as being among the largest commitments at Amazon after Lord of the Rings. By comparison, Amazon is estimated to have spent $250 million on rights alone to Lord of the Rings, with that deal covering a multiple-season show (The Rings of Power) as well as spinoffs.”
The Hollywood Reporter.
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