Sansa Stark has substituted Winterfell with temples that are missing. Prime Video has announced Sophie Turner to front its Live-action Tomb Raider series, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge writing, creating, and executive showrunning the globe-jumping actioner. Principal photography kicks off on January 19, 2026, with just enough time for their team to buff their relics and their pickaxes.
The new expedition team
Turner has his dream roster of action-adventure players lined up. Waller-Bridge co-showruns with Chad Hodge, who can credit Good Behavior and Wayward Pines to his resume. Jonathan van Tulleken, just arriving from the prestige binge of Shōgun, will direct and executive-produce. Crystal Dynamics, videogame canon keeper, is part of the camp with Story Kitchen and Amazon MGM Studios, with Legendary Television also on the executive list. Normalizing that franchise to the A-list category level, rather than relegating it to a dusty old-time museum.
What they are saying
Waller-Bridge hailed Turner “formidable” and promised a team that is “outrageous, brave, and funny,” sealing with a smile to patrons, “Get ready for artifacts, Croft is coming.” Turner shot back with a warning to “give everything I’ve got” to fill out the “giant shoes” of Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander. If you want the feel, it’s bravado of the chest-rig variety with Fleabag-grade humor.
How we got here
Waller-Bridge started working on Tomb Raider at Amazon in early 2023, and Prime Video formally greenlit it in May 2024. Turner became the favorite later in the year, and negotiations and schedule talk then brewed while several passes of writing room followed. Greenlight has a date, a star, and a captain to helm it now.
Turner comes together because it has space to hold Lara’s lean, contemporary silhouette, all plotting and grime. She added multi-seasonal growth to Game of Thrones before dipping into true-crime drama to police drama for The Staircase and leading the crime-heist genre series Joan. Throw in Waller-Bridge’s sharp eye for character-led spectacle, and you can imagine a Croft that is smart, roughed around, and physically ridiculous. Amazon is pinning that alchemy to catch up to its recent hit streak from game to screen.
The legacy she inherits
Walker steps into Jolie’s early-2000s tornado and Vikander’s 2018 survivor-season redo of Lara, franchise heir after Jolie’s early-2000s tornado and Vikander’s 2018 survivor-season redo. Both of these made a splash at the box office and in mainstream culture, so expectation is little short of modest. Turner’s version will be charged with paying tribute to the icon while exploring new territory in the jungle.
The firm read
Tomb Raider chugs into the market with streamers searching for a highly recognizable IP that can go global. Amazon has bet big on genre IPs that spawn word-of-mouth and cosplay competency. With Crystal Dynamics attached and Story Kitchen first-look slate booming, Prime Video is self-evidently creating a multi-format Croft-verse that can support series, shows, and tie-ins. If the writing holds, Lara’s passport is going to need expansion pages.
When does production start?
Production started January 19, 2026. Wait for opportunities to play with people who can support you as players, baddies, and one costly manor house. Catch van Tulleken’s first-episode footprint because his Shōgun writing suggests cinematic largesse to match Croft’s threat math. If it’s in harmony with its one-liners, this Lara will banter while she climbs, puzzle while she sprints, and blow up Prime Video like a spring-loaded pressure plate.
