Tom Holland undergoes a gag-worthy COVID-19 test to resume filming on Uncharted. Holland has been attached to Uncharted for some time now, but the project has been slow to get off the ground. Based on the video games of the same name, Uncharted is said to be an origin story for Holland's Nathan Drake, who is a famous treasure hunter in the vein of Indiana Jones. The film has been delayed numerous times, but it finally appeared to gain traction earlier this year with production on the verge of beginning with Ruben Fleischer (Venom) on hand to direct and Mark Walberg co-starring.
However, Uncharted once again ran into issues on its very first day of shooting. Back in March, the coronavirus pandemic grounded countless film and television productions, with Uncharted being counted among the unlucky group. As a result, Sony yet again delayed the film's release date to October 2021, though it has since been moved to July 2021. As production seems to be ramping up again, Sony must be hoping they can avoid another frustrating delay.
In order to resume work, every production must implement a series of health guidelines and precautions. This is likely the primary reason why yesterday Holland shared a video on his Instagram story of him undergoing a COVID test (via farha). Truthfully, it doesn't look very pleasant, but he endured it like a champ.
Assuming Holland and everyone else's tests come back positive, production can properly get back up and running within the coming weeks. This doesn't come as much of a surprise since several productions are starting to pick back up; this week alone saw Jurassic World: Dominion begin filming once again. Previous reports said Uncharted's production is taking place in Berlin, which has already demonstrated signs of other projects resuming. Last week, several cast members from The Matrix 4 were spotted in Berlin ahead of their own restart.
Uncharted filming soon also falls in line with the time frame for Holland's other major upcoming project: the MCU's Spider-Man 3. Initially set to begin production in July, there are now tentative plans for Spider-Man 3 to start in September. While this could change, having Holland film Uncharted now could allow him to be available for Spider-Man 3 later in the year. Sony wants to release Uncharted before Spider-Man 3, so it's likely important to the studio that the former doesn't get delayed any longer than it has to be. As unpleasant as it seems, Holland's COVID test was a necessary obstacle to ensure Uncharted can finally get off the ground.
Source: farha/Twitter
