Fans are campaigning for Hayley Atwell to be the new Lara Croft in the new ‘Tomb Raider’ series on Amazon Prime…see more

Lara Croft has been back in the spotlight lately following the release of the animated series Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. Now the town is talking about who may play the character in Amazon’s live-action Tomb Raider, which will be a TV adaptation of the long-running video game franchise.

The last Tomb Raider live-action adaptation came in 2018, with the Alicia Vikander-fronted film, which unfortunately, did not gross enough at the box office to guarantee a sequel. While there was talk of another film with Vikander, nothing eventuated. Then in May 2024, Amazon ordered a new live-action Tomb Raider series as part of its deal with game developer Crystal Dynamics. The series will be connected to Crystal Dynamics’ series of Tomb Raider games, which has thus far included Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raider (2015), Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018), and a fourth untitled game that is currently in development.

Amazon’s Tomb Raider series is being written and produced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who is known for her work creating TV series Fleabag and Killing Eve, as well as starring in Solo: A Star Wars Story and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Fans have been waiting to see which actress will be the next to take on the role of the iconic Lara Croft, with Hayley Atwell most recently voicing the character in the Netflix animated series. At Amazon’s upfronts in May, studio chief Jennifer Salke said the casting would involve a worldwide search.

Deadline has now thrown some names into the mix, reporting that Sophie Turner and Lucy Boynton are two of the actors Amazon is considering to test for the lead role of Lara Croft. Turner is perhaps best known for her role as Sansa Stark who she portrayed in all eight seasons of Game of Thrones. She also had a leading role as a young Jean Grey in Fox’s X-Men prequels X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix. Boynton has had starring roles in Netflix TV shows Gypsy and The Politician, and in the feature films Bohemian Rhapsody, The Greatest Hits, and Barbie. No other names were revealed in the report, but it appears that Amazon is looking to cast a British star in the role, which would match the character’s origins.

Few details have been revealed about the plot or direction of Amazon’s Tomb Raider series, but Waller-Bridge did say in a statement earlier this year that Tomb Raider was a huge part of her life and that the character of Lara Croft means a lot to her. With casting now underway, it seems that an announcement of a new Lara Croft actress could be imminent, and also likely means that scripts for the series have been completed. Hopefully, it also signals that production on the series will begin soon.

Crystal Dynamics is yet to provide a release window for its next Tomb Raider game, and Netflix is in development on its second season of Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. At this point, with many Tomb Raider projects in development, it’s anyone’s guess as to which will be released first.