Tom Holland says the Uncharted movie begins filming next month and takes inspiration from the game Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. As fans knows all too well, Sony's been trying to get a movie based on Naughty Dog's action-adventure video game series off the ground since as far back as 2008. The Uncharted movie's been in development for so long that original Nathan Drake actor Mark Wahlberg has since been recast as the treasure hunter's mentor, Victor (aka. Sully) Sullivan, opposite Holland as a younger version of Drake in the current iteration of the project. That's to mention nothing of how many directors have come and gone in that time (six, to date).
In the latest development, Uncharted was pushed back from December 2020 to March 2021, after director Travis Knight (Bumblebee) stepped down due to a scheduling conflict. It's since been reported Sony has turned to its trusted Venom and Zombieland 1 & 2 helmsman Ruben Fleischer to call the shots instead, with the intention of beginning production in the immediate future. Thankfully, judging by Holland's recent update, it appears things are finally clicking into place for the project.
Speaking with IGN at the world premiere for Pixar's Onward (which he costars in with Chris Pratt), Holland confirmed Uncharted begins shooting in four weeks in Berlin and praised the movie's stunt department for having "done an amazing job already prepping the stunts". He also touched on the inspiration for the film, noting A Thief's End will be a major influence:
"One of my favorite video games ever is the fourth Uncharted game... And lots of inspiration for the film has come from that game in particular... When I sat down with [Sony Chairman] Tom Rothman, and we were talking about video games and I was like 'I've just finished Uncharted', and he was like 'Well, why don't you play Nathan Drake?' And I remember being like 'I would do anything to play Nathan Drake'..."
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End finds Drake living a life of retirement when he's pulled into a search for the English pirate Henry Avery's long-lost treasure by his estranged brother Samuel (with Sully along for the ride). Obviously, the Uncharted film won't be a direct adaptation of A Thief's End; Holland has already confirmed the movie will be an origin story for a younger Drake. That being said, it's possible Avery's treasure will serve as the movie's MacGuffin. Alternatively, the film could end up visiting some of the locations from A Thief's End, like the Scottish Highlands, Italy, and/or King's Bay. It's also plausible the movie will draw from the game in terms of its style and set pieces, as opposed to lifting specific elements from its plot (assuming it doesn't do some combination of all three of these things).
Between Uncharted and Indiana Jones 5 beginning production soon for a summer 2021 release, next year may end up seeing something of a renaissance for the international treasure hunters action-adventure genre. Holland already has a lot of support thanks to his charismatic performance as Spider-Man in the MCU, and could potentially bring just the right amount of confidence and inexperience to the role of a young Drake. He might even prove to have strong chemistry with Wahlberg as his crusty father figure Sully, leaving audiences wanting to see the pair reunite in an Uncharted sequel. If nothing else, it's just nice to know the movie is finally (maybe) going to happen this time around.
Source: IGN
