is reporting that Sony has signed our new cinematic Spider-Man, Tom Holland, to play hero Nathan Drake in their Uncharted movie. The film will serve as a prequel to the existing popular video game franchise and detail Drake’s younger years. Joe Carnahan worked on the latest script for the project, which has now apparently been tossed in favor of this prequel idea. A new screenwriter is now being sought. Charles Roven, Avi Arad, Ari Arad, and Alex Gartner remain on board to produce.
The new script is expected to take cues from the third and fourth games in the series, which featured some details about Drake’s early life. This new direction for the film reportedly came about after Sony and their film head honcho, Tom Rothman, were pleased with an early cut of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Shawn Levy is still on board to direct the picture, but given the drastic change in narrative, it remains to be seen as to whether or not he sticks around. The studio had hoped to get underway with production this summer, but between the script overhaul and Holland’s Marvel duties, that’s now impossible. The same holds for its 2018 release date. Look for that to be pushed to 2019, as production is unlikely to fire up until sometime early next year.
This marks the third potential franchise for young Tom Holland. In addition to Uncharted and his current Marvel contract, the actor is also on board to play the male lead in Lionsgate’s Chaos Walking. Doug Liman will be directing that picture, from a script by Charlie Kaufman, with current Star Wars hero Daisy Ridley as the female lead. It will be the first installment in an intended trilogy.
Back to Uncharted, I have no dog in this particular race. While I have picked up a few of the games on the cheap, I have not yet played them. Fandom seems decidedly split on this announcement. Some are all in favor of a new tale within this particular universe that (likely) treats the existing games as canon. Others are upset that they are getting a prequel to a film series that doesn’t really exist yet, much preferring the idea of actual game adaptations. The real question is whether or not audiences will show up for it. After all, neither Warcraft nor Assassin’s Creed fared well last year. Uncharted is the more commercial idea of the three, giving the world a modern Indiana Jones riff, so it should stand a greater chance of success. Will this give Sony the long-running franchise they desperately crave?
