Amazon MGM Studios TV Head on Big Emmys Showing, the Future of ‘Fallout,’ ‘Tomb Raider’ and More

Amazon MGM Studios television head Vernon Sanders said the studio is “blown away” by the Emmys recognition for Prime Video’s genre television series “Fallout,” which received 17 nods and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” which received 16 nods, including Outstanding Drama Series.

The shows marked the most drama nominations ever for Prime Video as “Fallout” star Walton Goggins and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” leads Donald Glover and Maya Erskine all earned acting nominations.

“We have to go into these things with a lot of humility. But to see the scale of the nominations for both shows did blow us away. We’ve been incredibly proud of both of them,” the executive told TheWrap. “Part of what makes it so gratifying is these are partnerships that we’ve built over years. Asking these creators to come and make their home with us and to build these things that take a very long time is really gratifying when they succeed on all measures, they’re commercially successful, they’re brilliantly executed and then they’re recognized in this way.”

Overall, the streamer’s content accounted for 37 of Amazon MGM Studios’ 62 total nods. Other Prime Video shows that received Emmys recognition include “Tig Notaro: Hello Again,” “Red, White & Royal Blue” and “Invincible.”

Sanders spoke with TheWrap about their Emmy nods and their upcoming slate, including the second seasons of “Fallout,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”

What can you tease about Season 2 of ‘Mr. and Ms. Smith’ and Donald Glover and Maya Erksine’s involvement?

All I can say there is Donald and Francesca Sloane have shared with us their vision for Season 2 and it’s going to be, I think, just as special as Season 1.

Do you have any update to share on Season 2 of “Fallout” and when it may be ready to premiere? How many seasons do you see the show going for?

Geneva and Graham and Jonah and Kilter have such a vision for this. They are hard at work, we already have scripts in hand for Season 2. So we’re really far ahead because we knew we had something special all along. It’s premature for me to give you a release date. But I’ll tell you, we are working hard to be back as fast as possible. So I think people will be pleased with how quickly we’re able to get the show back. We just want to make sure we deliver everything that is on the page. And “Fallout” is a big world, we’ve had a great partnership with Bethesda. So we’re in all sorts of conversations about what the future looks like. But we definitely think “Fallout” is a multi-season show that can go in a lot of different directions. So we’re very excited about what’s been laid out so far.

Has there been any conversations about doing any “Fallout” spinoffs down the road?

These days we’re really trying to make sure that we really build the mothership in a way that could earn its way into a greater expansion and Bethesda has lots of plans for the video game franchise. So those conversations are probably a little premature at this point. But we’re excited to have such a big landscape. We want to make sure that anything that we do truly feels earned and the fans will tell us if they want more.

What can you tease about Season 2 of “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”?

Well, as you know, for Season 2 we had to move the whole production to London. I think there’s a whole new flavor and tone to the piece that I think feels like it’s infused by the new location, the new team that we’ve had to build. I think it’s a season that absolutely builds on the momentum of Season 1 and it takes the show to really exciting places. We are really bullish but humble about Season 2. So we want everyone to give it a watch, we think there’s just incredible stuff, just the performances alone are breathtaking. And we’re really excited to already be in discussions about the direction for seasons beyond.

How do you feel about the season’s chances for Emmys consideration?

We’re going to be humble about this, but that team has worked tirelessly to deliver feature quality execution for TV series, so we would hope so.

What was behind the decision to bring “The Boys” to an end with Season 5? Are any additional spinoffs in the works besides “Gen V? “

This is all about Eric Kripke. We’ve had this incredible success because of his vision and execution and he’s told us for awhile that he believes this really should be a five-season series. Of course, we asked him, “Are you really sure it can’t go on for more?” And he gave it some thought, but came back to his original vision for this, so we want to honor that. And similarly, if there’s more to this universe, which would we love, that’s ultimately going to be about him leading the path there.

We love “Gen V.” Season 2 is turning out to be really strong. They’ve had their hardships obviously with the loss of Chance [Perdomo] but ultimately I think all fans of “The Boys” are really going to love that second season and stay tuned on whether there’s more.

Is there a specific window you’re targeting for “Gen V” Season 2?

We are in production now. We’ve been in production for several weeks now, probably a month or two and I’m hoping that will be out next year.

What can you tease about “Beast Games? ” Do you see it going on for multiple seasons?

Jimmy Donaldson and the entire team over there have been the very best kind of partners. Every day, they’re thinking of new, incredibly ambitious, how-can-we-pull-this-off type of things and they have the expertise to know how to pull it off. I think this is going to be one of the biggest things we do this year and they have proven themselves absolutely fully in. I can’t tease too much about the surprises planned for the season. But I think people will be blown away every episode. There’s only one MrBeast and he’s proven to us why he’s the best at doing this.

We’re having such a great experience here. We’re heavily leaning in and ultimately I think some of that will be up to Jimmy, but if he’s up for more I feel like we’re right there with them.

What can you tease about “Citadel: Diana” and the upcoming India spinoff “Citadel: Honey Bunny”?

We think that the teams both in Italy and India have done a fantastic job on these offshoots. Each one you can watch on its own and you don’t have to have seen the mothership. But if you have seen the mothership, there are Easter eggs and things that I think people will really enjoy, similar to what we’ve done with “The Boys” and “Gen V.” But each of them are very tonally different. They have a global story that people can access, but they’re tinged with things that feel very specific to each region. We’re just incredibly proud of those shows.

Any specific timing on when “Citadel” Season 2 will begin production?

We haven’t started production yet, but we’re really bullish on what we’re seeing. The material is great, we’ve got some new cast joining and we are rushing to get back as soon as possible. It won’t be this year, but I’m really hopeful about next year.

How soon do you think Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s “Tomb Raider” might go into production?

We are hard at work. We’ve got great material. Phoebe is really good. We’re really excited. My guess is we’ll spend the rest of this year getting things prepped so that we can start production early next year. We’ve got to find our Lara Croft, so that global wide search will start sooner rather than later.

Any update on the status of “The Dark Tower” from Mike Flanagan?

So Mike is incredibly passionate about this and we’re incredibly passionate about Intrepid. There are a few things in the hopper with Intrepid with us and we’re trying to figure out right now how to prioritize. So I don’t have anything to share specifically on “Dark Tower” other than we are in weekly conversations with him about this and a few other pieces that we’re leaning into.

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