The Tomb Raider franchise has reportedly been sold to Amazon for around $600 million. It’s understood that this amount not only includes the rights to the IP but also commitments to the recently announced TV series and all future movies.
After Square Enix offloaded several of its Western IPs and studios including Tomb Raider last year, the rights were picked up by Embracer Group. It seems like Embracer Group no longer owns the IP and Amazon might be taking charge of the Tomb Raider franchise going forward.
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Amazon’s plans are quite ambitious for the Tomb Raider property. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon is taking inspiration from Marvel and wants to turn Tomb Raider into a connected world that features a new movie, the recently announced TV series from Phoebe Waller-Bridge and at least one game which is currently in development at Crystal Dynamics and rumoured to be announced sometime this year.
Amazon has already committed to publishing Crystal Dynamics’ upcoming game. Fellowship of Fans claims that the $600 million buyout is an “overall package”, which suggests that it includes not only the IP rights but all future multimedia projects as well. Comparatively, Amazon spent $250 million to acquire rights to use The Lord of the Rings for its big-budget television show, The Rings of Power.
Last August, MGM lost the movie rights to Tomb Raider which we now believe is in Amazon’s court as the company plans on making another movie but starring a different actress as protagonist Lara Croft. Several potential candidates have been put forth by fans including Hayley Atwell, Zendaya, Hailee Steinfeld, Florence Pugh and Amber Midthunder, among others.
As with all reports, take this with a pinch of salt for now until we get official confirmation directly from Amazon.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
