Tom Holland Says Uncharted Has a Solution to the Video Game Movie Problem

Actor Tom Holland is set to star as a young Nathan Drake in the upcoming Uncharted movie based on the hit video game series. While Uncharted has had numerous production delays, Holland remains optimistic about the project. In fact, Holland says that their approach to the Uncharted movie will solve one of Hollywood’s toughest questions: how do you make a successful video game movie adaptation? While a few video game movies have managed to please audiences over the years, such as last year’s charming Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, generally they tend to disappoint viewers and under-perform at the box office, but Holland thinks that they’ve figured out the right approach for Uncharted.

“I think what Uncharted offers that most video games films don’t is that it’s an origin story to the games,” Holland told IGN. “So if you played the games, you haven’t seen what’s going to happen in the film. And if you haven’t played the games, you’re going to enjoy the film because it’s information that everyone else is getting at the same time. But I’m super excited to make that movie and it’s been a long time coming.”

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Holland’s casting in the role of Nathan Drake raised some eyebrows because the boyish Spider-Man actor seems years away from resembling the roguish treasure hunter, but it turns out that was done on purpose. Holland intends to show the beginnings of the character in order to tell the story of how he eventually becomes the man gamers are familiar with.

Holland was enthusiastic about the latest script from writer Joe Carnahan, saying, “I read the newest draft of the script on the way over here and it’s one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. It really, really jumps off the page.”

He also praised his co-star Mark Wahlberg, who will be playing Nathan Drake’s mentor. “I think Mark Wahlberg’s going to kill it as Sully and it’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said.

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Uncharted lost its sixth director in December 2019 when Bumblebee’s Travis Knight dropped out, reportedly because there was a scheduling conflict caused by Holland’s Spider-Man commitments. The Uncharted movie was recently pushed back to a March 5, 2021 release date, but a new director has yet to be named by Sony. The latest rumor says Venom director Reuben Fleischer is in talks to come on as the new Uncharted director.

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Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.