Sony has cemented what will apparently be the template for its long-gestating Uncharted franchise. So sayeth Deadline, Tom Holland is your cinematic Nathan Drake. The current Peter Parker, in both Spider-Man: Homecoming and (for as long as they'll have him) the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been cast as a young Nathan Drake in Shawn Levy's adaptation of the popular action-adventure video game franchise Uncharted. The project has been bouncing around for years, with the likes of David O. Russell, Neil Burger, Seth Gordon, and Joe Carnahan coming and going. And since Holland is not even 21 yet, this will apparently be a prequel of sorts to the actual Uncharted games.
Yes, there is a flashback sequence in the third Uncharted game where we meet a young Nathan Drake, not unlike the prologue for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Holland is wicked talented (both as an actor and a professional dancer) and may end up doing his own stunts here and there if the insurance companies allow it, and the studio is clearly happy with what they've seen from Spider-Man: Homecoming (we're getting a new trailer on Wednesday for that one). A word of caution, as this is the kind of project that gets a fresh coat of development hell paint every so often and then ends up getting sent back to the drawing board.
The big question is whether anyone actually wants an Uncharted movie since the core appeal of the games is that they are pretty darn cinematic. It goes without saying that Warner Bros. and MGM's Tomb Raider reboot will beat this one to theaters by a country mile. The Alicia Vikander vehicle, also a prequel in its own way albeit based on the rebooted/origin story-ish video game incarnation, will debut March 16, 2018. And, if I may, I think there is a darn good chance that the female-driven "Indiana Jones-ish" video game action movie is going to be a more promising financial endeavor than the somewhat more conventional male-driven one.
First, there is a history of video game hits with female protagonists, think Tomb Raider, the Resident Evil series and Silent Hill. Second, by default, such a big-budget exploratory action movie with someone who looks like Vikander is going to be a rarer thing than one with an actor who looks like Holland. The good news is that this will be the first Uncharted movie as opposed to the first or second reboot. So moviegoers and consumers won't have the option of merely tossing on the other Uncharted movies in their Blu-Ray collection as opposed to seeing this new variation. The bad news is that they will still have the option of just staying home and playing the video games.
