Amazon had to raid its (very sizable) safe to bring Phoebe Waller-Bridge in-house — but at least Prime Video will (eventually) get “Tomb Raider” out of their giant, extended deal, Jen Salke, the head of Amazon Studios, wants to remind everybody.
In 2019, Waller-Bridge, the “Fleabag” star and creator, signed a three-year deal at Amazon worth a reported $20 million annually. The deal was renewed with very similar terms in 2022. With “Tomb Raider” taking forever, a “Sign Here” adaptation still in development, and Waller-Bridge bailing on the “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” series (she was replaced by Maya Erskine), Amazon has exactly nothing to show for its gigantic investment. But Salke recently told Variety that she does not regret the overall deal with Waller-Bridge.
“When we look at a longterm 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,'” Salke said. “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.”
Consider Waller-Bridge’s overall deal more of a holding deal, we suppose.
Salke called the “Tomb Raider” project “really exciting,” adding that Waller-Bridge is “well into” the process. She had no updates on “Tomb Raider” beyond that.
“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,” Salke continued.
The movie Salke is referencing there is likely the fifth “Indiana Jones.” OK, but technically Waller-Bridge left “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” over creative differences with Donald Glover. Even Waller-Bridge says that.
But Salke is right to demand a recount on overall deals across Hollywood. What auditors would find, however, is that the Waller-Bridge deal was definitely among the worst given the size of the investment and $0 value. A company like Amazon, though, can chalk it up as a costly learning experience.
“I think we’re looking at converting a lot of those deals to a very performance-based model, based on what they accomplish,” Salke said. “And that’s been received very well because you’ve got to change with the times.”
I mean that’s just the announced projects.
I’m sure they got something out of her when it comes to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, even if she left he to creating differences. Amazon already has her locked down, giving the freedom to Donald Glover probably makes them both happy.
Tomb Raider they obviously see as a long term investment, so if that is moving along at a pace they’re happy with, that might be ok.
In terms of pure speculation she worked on Bond 25, No Time to Die, and Amazon now owns MGN studios and James Bond. It’s possible she’s also working on future installments of that franchise.
There is also of course whatever original stuff she might be working on.
I agree at face value at this time, it seems like a poor investment. But they’ve renewed the deal at least once, so it must be work somewhat. (Or Amazon are fools, which is a possibility, but time will tell.)