GAME OF THRONES Star Sophie Turner Up for Lara Croft Role in Live-Action TOMB RAIDER Series
The search for the next live-action version of Lara Croft to star in the new Tomb Raider series is underway, and one of the actresses who is screen testing for the the role is Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner.
This show is being developed by Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny) for Amazon MGM Studios.
According to Deadline, Turner is set to screen test for the series, along with Bohemian Rhapsody's Lucy Boynton. There’s no information on the other actresses who might be testing for the role.
There are a couple of actors on the studio wish list, which includes Deadpool and Wolverine star Emma Corrin and Speak No Evil's Mackenzie Davis, though neither actor is thought to be testing for the role.
The series has previously been described as an “epic” and “globe-trotting” series, and Amazon MGM Studios head Jennifer Salke added: “If I could tell my teenage self this was happening I think she’d explode.”
Salke went in to say: “We think it’s going to be a huge franchise for us. Tomb Raider is really exciting and Phoebe is well into it and working in close partnership with [Tomb Raider general manager] Dallas Dickinson and the game producers, and it’s going to be very exciting.
“But I don’t have any [new updates]… 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.
“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. She went off to do a movie, there are things that happened — if people want to go take an accounting of what deals they were able to get value out of or not, there’s still probably a lot to do there.
“But I think we’re looking at converting a lot of those deals to a very performance-based model, based on what they accomplish. And that’s been received very well because you’ve got to change with the times.”
Salke previously said: “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.
She went on to say: “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.”
When previously teasing the project, Waller-Bridge said: "There's so much I can incorporate. I mean, the character of Lara Croft was inspired by Indiana Jones and James Bond.
“So there's so much, and it just felt like the perfect final step in my own personal adventure through this kind of franchise world. I love the idea of, as Steven Spielberg describes it, the greatest show on Earth, as in being able to make things with that scale and to go on adventures that big and for the comedy and the heart to be matched but on this kind of great, great level.
“And, actually, through all the adventure stuff that I've learned from those [franchises], it's actually how to keep something feeling grounded as well as allow it to be bigger than itself in some way. And so hopefully that will all translate perfectly, seamlessly into Tomb Raider."
Amazon Studios will also be developing a new Tomb Raider movie and video games.