STORY KITCHEN CO-FOUNDER DISCUSSES AMAZON'S LIVE-ACTION TOMB RAIDER SERIES
[ 8 August 2026 ]
Story Kitchen co-founder Dmitri Johnson said the company's live-action Tomb Raider television series has been several years in development and was shaped by its existing partnership with Crystal Dynamics, the video game developer associated with the franchise. The comments were made in a TechRadar interview published on Story Kitchen's official website.
Johnson said the partnership established during work on Netflix's animated Tomb Raider series, Tomb Raider The Legend of Lara Croft, provided a framework for working with Crystal Dynamics when Amazon proposed a live-action adaptation. He said Crystal Dynamics must approve decisions relating to the series and has been closely involved in the first season, while also respecting executive producer Phoebe Waller-Bridge's perspective on what a live-action Tomb Raider project should be.
"Every decision [on the show] is made with Crystal Dynamics' sign-off," Johnson reveals. "So, season one has their blessing and they're very hands-on, but they also respect Phoebe, who's a super-fan, and her perspective of what a live-action Tomb Raider project should be."
Johnson said Story Kitchen has just started seeing rough cuts of the series. He said the production is intended to appeal both to existing Tomb Raider fans and to viewers who are unfamiliar with the video game franchise.
"We've actually just started seeing rough cuts, and we were grinning like 10 year olds the entire time," says Johnson. "It's going to be something that your mom can come across and not know that it's based on a 30-year-old videogame franchise. We don't want it to be a niche adaptation just for core fans, who we absolutely honor and will make feel seen. But, if we do our job right, which we're tirelessly trying to do, newcomers will fall love this show just as much as we have."
The live-action Tomb Raider series is produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Crystal Dynamics. Principal photography began in January 2026. Sophie Turner stars as Lara Croft, with Sigourney Weaver, Jason Isaacs, Celia Imrie and Bill Paterson also appearing in the cast.
Executive producers include Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Jenny Robins for Wells Street Films, Dmitri M. Johnson, Michael Lawrence Goldberg and Timothy I. Stevenson for Story Kitchen, and Michael Scheel for Legendary Television. The series is expected to debut on Prime Video in 2027.
