Director Shawn Levy Offers Update on His UNCHARTED Movie with Tom Holland
In case you've been wondering what the status is on Shawn Levy and Tom Holland's feature film adaptation of Uncharted, we have an update for you. The Playlist recently talked to the filmmaker about where the project currently stands and as it turns out, it's the next film that he plans on making, so things are moving fast.
"I mean, as of right now, the closest to the starting line is Uncharted in that it’s a massive title. We now have a very good script and we have our star in Tom Holland. That is now subject to schedule and additional casting. But I would say as of right now, that seems to be the most near horizon. And it’s a movie I’m very excited about."
When I saw that Uncharted fan film with Nathan Fillion, I loved it so much that it made me sad that that is not going to be the movie that the fans get. Instead, we are getting a film franchise that will be based around a much younger version of Nathan Drake and it will establish how Sully and Drake became partners. The story was described as follows:
"It actually takes place when Nathan Drake (who’s the lead of that game) and Sully, I guess you’d call him his surrogate father, were much younger. It’s an origin story that evolves out of the game but is not from the game."
Levy previously talked about the film saying that it's an Indiana Jones film for a new generation and explained:
"So, for me, it was a fact that the game is awesome; the spirit of the game, with its action set pieces, it’s imaginative setting, and above all, the kind of rogue swagger of Nathan. Those are things that I think make for a great movie. And, for me, the kind of the big, like the aha moment, if you want to call it that, was I met with Tom Holland and he kind of put it really succinctly and saying, if we do the origin of Drake, that is something that we haven’t seen as the plot of games 1, 2, 3, 4; we’ve seen a snippet of an origin of Sully and Drake meeting in the past, but here’s maybe an opportunity to do a treasure-hunting action movie with attitude, with a protagonist — and chapter of the protagonist’s life — that you can’t get for free, at home, by just playing the game.
So, we’re trying to kind of take the spirit and the tone and the attitude of the game — and the crazy, visual spectacle of it — but apply it to this Drake chapter that you haven’t seen told. Hopefully, if we can get that right, what you’re doing is: you’re doing right by Uncharted, and you’re also giving an Indiana Jones-type franchise to an audience that didn’t grow up on Indiana Jones.”
I wish I was more excited about this. I love the Uncharted film franchise, but it just seems like they are taking all the steps to ensure that this isn't going to appeal to the fans of the game. Don't get me wrong, I love Tom Holland, I just would just much rather see an adventure based around an old version of Nathan Drake. Regardless, Levy will most likely jump into production on it when he's finished with Stranger Things Season 2.
Are any of you excited about what Levy is planning for this film?