It’s been a long onerous journey since Sony Pictures first announced plans for a live-action adaptation of the popular Uncharted series back in 2009, but it seems the project has finally found its Nathan Drake in English actor Tom Holland.
If you think Tom Holland, the guy you've seen web-slinging about last year in Captain America: Civil War, seems a little young to portray the seasoned daredevil that is Nathan Drake, it’s because director Shawn Levy revealed that the Uncharted adaptation for the big screen will be a prequel based on a flashback sequence found in the third installment of the video game series.
In it, Nathan Drake first comes into paths with Victor Sullivan, a character many fans know to be a major player in the franchise. For those unaware, Sullivan serves as something of a Mr. Miyagi to Nathan’s Daniel (there’s almost definitely a better analogy).
While a script has yet to be written, a film featuring the relentlessly magnetic Tom Holland learning to hone his craft as a parkour-loving devil-may-care adventurer, directed by the darkly madcap mind behind Stranger Things basically writes itself.
Will this be the project that finally validates video games as a medium adaptable for the big screen? My answer would be a resounding yes if not for the studio backing it.
Unfortunately, Sony is responsible for some of the biggest cinematic blunders in recent memory, not the least of which includes 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot. Lack of understanding of the source material exasperated by bland, vision-less directors has bedeviled the studio for nearly a decade.
Don’t get your underoos tied in a bunch just yet as director Shawn Levy doesn’t appear to be a director for a hire, but a legitimate fan of the series, as evident in his interview with Collider back in 2016:
“ I’ve been interested in this project for years, I’ve played and loved every iteration of the game. I think it’s largely a popularly accepted notion that it’s as cinematic a game as we’ve had, maybe ever, certainly of late. And it’s cinematic in that not only is it widely visual, but it’s really rooted in character and a very specific tone and sense of fun right?”
It puts me at ease knowing Levy will clearly bring passion and more importantly reverence to the work even if that means it has to be filtered through a studio notorious for misguided meddling.
Uncharted isn’t just modern Indiana Jones. It isn’t National Treasure. It’s a series beloved for its wit, charm and juvenile sense of adventure. The casting of Tom Holland makes me think Levy and company are more than aware of that.
