With Zombieland and Venom under his belt, director Ruben Fleischer has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Sony. That made him a natural choice to helm the studio's Uncharted movie, which was in development hell for a prolonged period of time. After numerous delays and setbacks, the film based on the popular PlayStation video games is finally here, hoping to launch a new franchise behind stars Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg.

Screen Rant spoke with Fleischer to discuss the process of making Uncharted, how to beat the infamous video game movie curse, other PlayStation properties he'd like to tackle, and much more.

Related: Tom Holland Interview for Uncharted

I'm such a big Uncharted fan. I want to back it up and just start with how you landed in the director's chair for this movie in the first place.

Ruben Fleischer: I consider myself very lucky. This is my third movie in a row for Sony. After Zombieland 2 was done, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do next, and I got a call from the Head of Production with this opportunity. He sent me the script and I was completely blown away because it evoked my favorite movie of all time, Raiders of Lost Ark, with its globe-trotting treasure-hunting adventure. The fact that it was based on a beloved video game made it all the more exciting to me. As soon as I read it, I was on board to bring it to life, because it really was a dream-come-true experience, getting to make this movie.

Video game movies, they're notoriously difficult to adapt for whatever reason. Why do you think that is and what was the biggest challenge for you in thinking about what video game elements you wanted to bring into the movie and how you wanted to keep it separate?

Ruben Fleischer: For me, when you're adapting any piece of material, whether it be a comic book or a video game, it's really important that it work on its own and stand on its own two feet as a feature film, which is what the audiences are paying to see. So while it may be based on this super popular video game franchise, if it doesn't work as a film, then it doesn't work for audiences. So for me, the most important thing was just making sure that it was an entertaining, globe-trotting adventure with a great relationship at its center, which is the Nate and Sully relationship.

In my case, I was super lucky that the source material of Uncharted establishes incredible tone, in terms of the comedy that's inherent to the franchise, as well as setting the bar super high for all the action set pieces that we're trying to do. Uncharted is known for having some of the most incredible action of any video game. So we were really lucky to have those as our two guiding principles in making the film, that it honor and respect the Nate and Sully relationship, and that the action be completely original and death-defying, and exciting, and everything that you look for in a great action film. I felt really lucky that we had such an incredible video game franchise to base the movie on.

There are a lot of moments where fans will have that Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme where you're like, "Oh, I know what that is. I know what that's from!" Do you have a favorite Easter egg that -- I know you don't want to give anything away -- but that you can point fans towards as they watch the movie?

Ruben Fleischer: We tried to use a lot of Nate's language from the video games or lines. "Oh crap" is something that he's notorious for saying, and that's actually the first line of the film, as well as, I believe, the last line in the film. But we also have a moment when they're trapped in a well and Nate says, "Well, well, well," which is a homage to the video games, which is my favorite Easter egg in the movie.

Tom Holland as Nathan Drake in Uncharted

You do this thing in the beginning, too, that I really liked, where Nate's falling or something and you've got to get this first-person perspective of his arms. And it's very video game-eseque.

Ruben Fleischer: That's awesome. Yeah, I mean, we tried to make it feel distinctive, while at the same time evoking the video game. So there are moments like that, where if you look for it, you can find it. But if you're not looking for it, then you will never know it's there.

Now we've known Tom Holland for years as Peter Parker and now we're meeting him as Nathan Drake. Was there a moment for you where you really saw the moment where Tom became Nathan Drake?

Ruben Fleischer: I feel like Tom stepped on set as Nathan Drake. I think it was really clear that this was a distinctive character from Peter Parker. Every moment of shooting, he had created this version that wasn't just a rendition of the character from the games, and it wasn't just Tom Holland. It's a really specific character that he's created, stepping outside of his role as Peter Parker and creating a unique new character for fans to fall in love with.

I know people always say it depends on the success of the movie. But do you have thoughts of Uncharted 2? Is that something you're thinking about?

Ruben Fleischer: It depends on the success of the movie [Laughs]. No, yeah, of course. I have thoughts on it. When you sit in an editing room for a year working on a movie, it's hard not to dream up other adventures to take these guys on. So yeah, if we're lucky enough to get to make a sequel, I have a lot of ideas for things that I personally would want to try.

Is there anyone from the game franchise that you would love to incorporate in a future movie?

Ruben Fleischer: Yeah, there's some pretty obvious candidates as to who might appear in an Uncharted sequel. I think fans of the games know exactly who I'm talking about, but I'm not gonna commit to anyone or anything at this moment, because I'd just be lucky to know that we're able to make a sequel. So we'll see time will tell.

How was Mark with...was it Mr. Whiskers?

Ruben Fleischer: Señor Whiskers because he was a Spanish cat. But yeah, Mark is, funny enough, allergic to cats.

Sully mustache post credits scene uncharted

Oh no!

Ruben Fleischer: So it was tricky staging those scenes because he couldn't be around the cat for too long. But he was a good sport, Mark as well as the cat actually. That cat, when he pops out of the backpack at the end of the movie, it was so perfectly on cue you couldn't ask for a better thing because animals are notoriously hard to work with. Mr. Whiskers knew when it was star time and he delivered his line perfectly.

Now working with Tom and being the Venom director, would you like to return for another Venom movie or Sony-verse Marvel movie?

Ruben Fleischer: Time will tell. I had a great experience making the first Venom and I'm excited to see where the franchise goes.

I know we would all love Zombieland 3. Is that on your radar at all? Do you have something in mind of what you'd like to do?

Ruben Fleischer: When we were making Zombieland 2 it was a running joke among us all that, "We got to do this again in another 10 years and see where it's evolved to." We'll see come 2029 If that's something we're still thinking about. But I would be so thrilled to get the gang back together and see where their lives have led in the last 10 years.

Yeah, me too. Is there another video game you'd love to adapt given the chance?

Ruben Fleischer: I'm working on a Jak and Daxter adaptation, which would be really fun to make with Naughty Dog. So that'd be really exciting. But yeah, I think they're kind of an untapped goldmine of great characters and exciting action and really original worlds. So I'd be thrilled to see more video game movies come to the screen.

Tom Holland in Uncharted

In the beginning of this movie, we get that PlayStation open and it seems like there's a big sandbox there for you to play in if you'd want to.

Ruben Fleischer: Yeah. That's my goal. So hopefully, whether it's a sequel to Uncharted or another great PlayStation property, I'd be thrilled to adapt another for the big screen.

What was the biggest challenge for you with Uncharted? What was the hardest scene to pull off?

Ruben Fleischer: I mean, the biggest challenge, just all cards on the table, was trying to figure out how to make a movie during a pandemic, because we were set to start shooting March 16 of 2020 and that's basically the day that the world shut down. We picked it back up in July and shot at the very early first few months of the pandemic and so there wasn't a day that wasn't challenging as a result of that new reality we all are now, unfortunately, living in.

Next: Why An Uncharted Franchise is Bad News for Indiana Jones

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