Uncharted: The Movie- Thoughts, News, and Opinions

I’ve often said on here that there are three art forms that hold themselves up above the rest (one of these days I’m going to have to explain myself on that and why I’m right). The three arts are comics, movies, and video games. I’ve been really into that third one recently. Upon the recommendation of a friend, I invested in a PlayStation Vita and one of the highest recommended games on the list for that system was Uncharted: Golden Abyss.

Tom Holland. While not the action hero looks that we expect
from Nathan Drake as an adult, he does look the part for a younger,
adolescent Drake like we see in flashback sequences in
"Drakes Deception" and "A Thief's End".

Immediately I became enveloped in the story of the characters across the 5 main storyline games, became rather proficient in the phone game version, and I can comfortably say that Uncharted is my favorite game series so far. As I studied the ins and outs of the story, I found that at one point they were planning a movie. The idea has been stuck in pre-production purgatory for years and years but earlier today we received the first real news about it for a long time, and of all things to announce it’s a casting! Tom Holland, famous now as Spider-man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is the new face of Nathan Drake.

Now, what does this mean exactly? A casting decision, based on past patterns, usually means that the movie is in serious production. It’s not too much to get excited about yet though. There are many examples, even ongoing ones, of movies that have cast major parts and have not yet been put into production, but this does show that Sony studios are serious about getting Uncharted out in the next few years.

Tom Holland looks the part
for young Drake as seen
in "Drake's Deception"
and "A Thief's End", but now
I have to ask- Who would play
adult Drake?

What makes this casting different from other pre-production casting announcements is some of the information that they have given us to go with it. The statement says that Tom Holland would be playing a young Nate, similar to the flashback scenes in the 3^rd and 4^th console games, and Tom’s part will be a prequel to the first console game “Drakes Fortune” (likely also a prequel to “Golden Abyss”).

The only other thing we know about the movie is that there was a supposed script that both Sony and Naughty Dog (the game’s developer) were really excited about that was written by a guy named Joe Carnahan. This script is said to be a hard “R” rating, which I can see as a possibility but can’t endorse.

Based on my estimates, a live action film by a major studio usually takes about 3 years to produce- one year in preproduction, one and a half years for production, and half a year for post-production and reshoots. That’s an average and it’s possible it may take less time than that, but with a major part cast already I think we can expect an announcement for release dates and casting the other parts here pretty soon.

Can Uncharted Break The Curse?

Movies based on video game properties have been notorious for being commercial flops. Stories lack the same involvement that the games usually come with and casting doesn’t fit the bill for what people are hoping, but Uncharted can be different.

Of all of the highlights of the Uncharted series, one of the biggest is its big cinematic openings, events, and the characterization can make a 10-minute segment of a guy eating dinner with his wife one of the most riveting experiences I have seen from a video game. The Direction even got the attention of JJ Abrams who said the opening to Uncharted: Among Thieves was one of the best openings he has seen for anything. The series is already primed and ready for the movie adaptation and likely you could just take one of the games as is and adapt that.

The parts that Tom Holland would play, the flashbacks/ prequel parts, are also extremely riveting, worthy of any great Hollywood action treasure hunting film.

I’ve heard that the only thing video game movies need to succeed is their own version of Iron Man, meaning they just need one success that sets the blueprint for what to do. Uncharted could definitely become that movie if the writers, directors, and producers all stay close to the rules set already by the games. Do that, and I can see big things in the future.

What do you guys think? Who would you cast as an older Drake? What video games do you want to see become a film? Let’s talk about it in the comments, thanks for liking my Facebook page and remember to always be your best self.