Amazon Reportedly Paid Huge Fee For Tomb Raider License
Love it or loathe it, it's time to accept that the Tomb Raider Cinematic Universe is likely on the way. Amazon has just stumped up for the rights to Lara Croft, but instead of your standard reboot, it sounds like we're getting a LOT of content.
The first Tomb Raider came shooting its way onto the PlayStation in 1996, and 27 years later, we've had numerous sequels, reboots, animations, and two live-action movie franchises. Now, we're ready to enter a new era of Ms Croft's archaeological adventures.
How Much Did Amazon Pay For Tomb Raider?
When Fellowship of Fans discussed the possible exit of Warner Bros. from owning the Lord of the Rings movie rights, Amazon was named as a possible buyer for Middle-earth Enterprises. The site also claims the Embracer Group "leased" the Tomb Raider rights for a jaw-dropping $600 million.
If this is the case, it would make Tomb Raider Amazon's second-biggest property, with the television rights and costs for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power coming in first. This echoes what The Hollywood Reporter said about Amazon's commitment to Tomb Raider.
Considering neither the Angelina Jolie nor Alicia Vikander-led Tomb Raider movies have been particularly critically or commercially successful, it's a massive gamble to put so much money into an IP.
Then again, with HBO's The Last of Us showing us just what can be done with live-action video game adaptations. The Tomb Raider IP represents Amazon's push into gaming, with TV shows already planned for Fallout and God of War.
What's Next For Tomb Raider?
Instead of just churning out a live-action movie for the sake of it (we're looking at you Uncharted), Amazon's Tomb Raider commitment reportedly involves a whole franchise of projects.
THR reports that Amazon is teaming up with dj2 Entertainment for a "massive rights deal" based on Tomb Raider. This will include a film, the series from Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and a game.
Crystal Dynamic regained the video game rights from Square Enix, with the next title reportedly set to focus on a team of Tomb Raiders. This could easily lean into the idea of a connected universe akin to Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Cinematic Universes are everywhere right now, and alongside the MCU, we've got the ever-expanding world of Star Wars and James Gunn's brand-new announcement for DC. Still, the canned Dark Universe based on Universal's Classic Monsters shows us how not to do it.
Considering Amazon already shelled out around $1 billion for The Rings of Power as the most expensive series ever made - and it getting mixed results - the Tomb Raider deal is another huge risk. Then again, it's not like Jeff Bezos can't afford it.