The Uncharted movie has been coming for a long time and finally, we’re starting to get some sneak peeks into the production and the tone of the movie. You may have seen some images last week, released by Sony of the highly anticipated title. These showed Uncharted’s leading man Tom Holland smouldering on set, Sully’s shirt and some of the items the story may revolve around.
In another image, Tom Holland is captured chatting with Uncharted’s original leading man Nolan North (sure there can be two leading men). Since the release of these images, Nolan North has had a word on what he thinks about the movie.
Nolan was flown, by Sony, to Barcelona to visit the set of the film. In a live recording of Retro Replay, Nolan’s youtube channel, he discusses his thoughts on Tom Holland as Drake, eludes to the place the story sits with the games and what director Ruben Fleischer brings. You can hear what Nolan thinks alongside the released images plus a couple of exclusive shots here.
The images Sony released still leave a lot to the imagination. Accompanied by Nolan’s discussion we’re afforded a little more insight on them. Long time attached Tom Holland is Nathan Drake and absolutely looks the part. That smoulder with the spot-on outfit framed on a half-destroyed boat (a galleon perhaps) is excellent. It sets the tone of the film very well, matching that of the games. This, hopefully, isn’t going to be a hugely different take on the IP. I want it to be something that sits well within the franchise and complements the games, Nolan North does mention this in his discussion. Reliving Drakes younger days in a short experience is a welcome change of pace to the expansive stories the 4 games, detailing Drakes adventures, tell.
Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) in Columbia Pictures’ UNCHARTED.
A second image shows Sully’s shirt and cigar. We know the characters of Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) and Chloe Frazer (Sophia Ali) are cast but we do not know if this is the extent of the cast of characters that will appear from the games. As Nolan points out the movie, whilst showing Drake at a different period in his life isn’t detached from the games. This isn’t a different take on the IP but fleshes out Drake’s story and his younger years. As such there may be a chance that other characters could turn up. The timeline is too early for Elena but someone like Eddy could make an appearance.
It feels like Mark Wahlberg has been attached to the movie since it was first mentioned and was initially marked to play Nathan Drake. This move to make him Sully, almost ten years on, feels right and another image on his Instagram shows an excellent Sully moustache. Like Holland as Drake, Wahlberg is playing a younger version of the character than we’ve experienced before and I hope he is afforded that change when people see and hear movie Sully.
Sully’s shirt in Columbia Pictures’ UNCHARTED.
These images are promising for a movie that’s had multiple directors attached and has been in discussion for years. It also comes at a good time when we haven’t had any Uncharted for a while. The last game in the franchise, Lost Legacy was released in 2017. If Uncharted sticks to it’s 16th July 2021 date it would have been nearly 4 years since we last experienced a new story. The first three games were released a little swifter than that time frame from Naughty Dog. This though matches the development time between 3, Drake’s Deception and 4, A Thief’s End. Hopefully, the gaming audience will afford the movie that development time and support this first production from PlayStation Productions.
The Cross of the Brotherhood in Columbia Pictures’ UNCHARTED.
Let us know what you think of these images and if the seal of approval from Nolan North, based on what he has seen so far, is good enough for you to be happy with the direction of the film. I am really looking forward to this film and I’ll be here to discuss the trailer and what we at OOL think when it releases.
