“Uncharted”: the 12-year odyssey to bring the treasure hunter saga to the big screen

As an adventurer and treasure hunter, Nathan Drake is no stranger to dangers such as pirates, mercenaries, yeti men, and his worst enemy, gravity. But this life little prepared him for what would be his greatest challenge: reaching theaters. Now that the PlayStation star has secured his film debut from director Ruben Fleischer (“Zombieland”) and played by Tom Holland; the franchise “Uncharted“Will have to survive the already complicated Hollywood in the days of Covid-19. Now that the first trailer for the film has been released, we recount the odyssey for this project to succeed.

While video game movie adaptations are not unusual, few franchises seem as perfect to be brought to the big screen as Naughty Dog’s “Uncharted.”

Released in November 2007 as an exclusive game for the PlayStation 3, “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” follows Nathan Drake, Treasure hunter whose ambition to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, the famous pirate Francis Drake, is only matched by his bad luck in encountering obstacles on his adventures. Accompanying him is his mentor Sullivan, whose dark past and dubious morals often land the protagonist in a myriad of trouble.

With obvious influences from the “Indiana Jones” saga and adventures like the “Maltese Falcon”, the developers presented a game that could almost be seen as an interactive movie, combining the well-known third-person shooter mechanics with cinematic chase scenes and exploration that stole the angles and techniques of the seventh art.

That’s why just a year after the release of “Drake’s Fortune” it came as no surprise to many that producer Avi Arad announced that he was working with Sony and its subsidiary Columbia Pictures to create a film version of the video game. “The best thing about Drake is that he is not an archaeologist. He’s not a benevolent guy, and he’s certainly not a great guy.“Arad said in an interview with the video game blog Kotaku. “Indiana Jones was always a good guy and he always did the right thing tirelessly. Drake is one who is drawn to virtue throughout the game. “.

As part of pre-production, Arad ordered a script from Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, a team of writers with several Hollywood movies on their resumes such as “A Sound of Thunder” and “Sahara,” the latter a film starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz about an adventurer in search of treasure in the eponymous desert.

Despite the producer’s confidence, his film adventure would not have its first director until 2010, a year after the release of the sequel “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.” David O. Russell, director behind “The Fighter” was chosen to direct and write the screenplay for the film., and with his involvement in this project another name was voiced for the main role that was repeated throughout the years: Mark Wahlberg.

Wahlberg, one of the hottest action stars of the day, was not a fan favorite. This role was occupied by Nathan Fillion, star of television series such as “Firefly” and “Castle” who by appearance and personality seemed to be more similar to the idea that the followers of “Uncharted” of Nathan Drake had. Fillion would show how successful fans were by appearing in the role of the adventurer in a short film directed by Allan Ungar in 2018.

A scene from the unofficial “Uncharted” short film that recreates what it feels like to control your character in games.

Despite requests from this sector of fans, by November 2010 Wahlberg confirmed to MTV that it would be him who would star in the film. “David is one of the best director-writers I have ever worked with. The idea that he has is incredible. So hopefully we will film this summer”Stated the actor, who also revealed that they had approached the actors Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci to participate in the film. According to what the reader anticipated, the legends of the cinema would be his father and his uncle respectively, a curious departure from the canon of games where these characters are never relevant.

During the first half of 2011 the project seemed to be going from strength to strength. In addition to the participation of Pesci and De Niro, other big names in Hollywood such as Scarlett Johansson and Amy Adams were also rumored. But in May 2011 “Uncharted” the film had its first setback when Russell separated from the production so at that time Variety reported as creative differences.

The director’s seat was not empty for long, and by July 2011 Neil Burger (“Limitless”) was chosen as Russell’s replacement. In this role, he stayed for 13 months, before Variety announced his departure in August of that year, along with Marianne and Cormac Wibberley, the writers of “National Treasure”, who were hired to write the script. Another earthquake hit production in February 2014 when Deadline revealed that Sony had hired Seth Gordon (“Horrible Bosses”) to head their project, with David Guggenheim (“Safe House”) as the new screenwriter.

Despite the departure of the Wibberleys, the production house’s obsession with the “National Treasure” saga was evident in an email leaked by Wikileaks dated November 2014 where the then vice president of Columbia Pictures, Jonathan Kadin, compared the script by Guggenheim for “Uncharted” with the films starring Nicolas Cage, which he described as “softer” and “silly.”

“‘National Treasure’ is a fun movie with an interesting historical mystery (and ‘Uncharted’ may be the same in those elements), but the action sequences are smoother, mostly panoramic shots and few physical hand-to-hand fights, shooting or short shots. They are not inspired. They don’t feel real. “Kadin wrote in his letter.

Seth Gordon left the project in June 2015, again due to creative differences, becoming the third director to work on the project.. He was replaced in October 2016 by Shawn Levy, director behind “Night at the Museum” and “Real Steel”, while the script was commissioned to Joe Carnahan (“The Gray”).

By May 2017, the movie finally found its ultimate Nathan Drake in “Spider-Man Homecoming” star Tom Holland. Known for his youthful appearance, the choice of the renowned British actor also hinted that the film would have a focus on Drake’s youth and his first meeting with his mentor Sully.. Thus, Carnahan was replaced by Rafe Judkins, a screenwriter with experience on television series such as “Chuck” and “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.”

But despite already having its lead, there was a new problem for the project after Shawn Levy resigned in December 2018, returning the film’s production to limbo.

Dan Trachtenberg (“10 Cloverfield Lane”) was named his successor in April 2019, while a new script was commissioned from Jonathan Rosenberg and Mark Walker, two writers with no credit to date. Trachtenberg would not last long either and by August of the same year he would say goodbye, like many, to the project. His replacement, hired just a month after his departure, was Travis Knight, director behind “Kubo and the Two String” and “Bumblebee.”

November 2019 brought the return of Mark Wahlberg. Before the one chosen to give life to Nathan Drake, specialized media indicated that the movie star was now in negotiations to play the father figure of the protagonist, Sully. These rumors have subsequently been confirmed and Wahlberg recently showed his character’s distinctive mustache on his Instagram account.

If you’ve read up to this point, you know that “Uncharted” is always going to be plagued with problems and this was the case when in December 2019 Deadline revealed that Knight had withdrawn from the project. According to the publication, in this case the separation was not due to creative differences, but because of the availability of its star Tom Holland, whose work on the sequel to “Spider-Man: Far From Home” would delay the filming of “Uncharted.” At this point, the script that handled the film was the one that Judkins made – the fifth, for those who are counting – now in collaboration with Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, screenwriters of “Iron Man.”

Eager to release the film in this decade, Sony and Columbia Pictures recruited director Ruben Fleischer in early 2020, remembered for the films “Zombieland” and “Venom.” By March of the same year, new announcements made it even more plausible that the film was actually going to be made, with actors like Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali and Tati Gabrielle joining the production. The producers, already confident that they were close to starting the recordings, gave the release date of March 5, 2021 … until a new antagonist appeared: Covid-19.

Since then, information on the project has been scarce, although media such as Collider have reported that it has been filmed in Berlin, Germany, since July this year. Tom Holland, who has a reputation for revealing details of the projects he works on, told his followers on Instagram that the filming of the film “was going very well.”

“The movie is everything I dreamed it would be. I mean, I don’t know if they’ve played video games, but they are a huge fan of them, and everything is fine.”, He affirmed in September.

More recently, the star has also shared a photo where he is seen with his fans in the port of Alicante, Spain, as well as a photo where he is seen dressed in the iconic Nathan Drake costume.

Meanwhile Naughty Dog, developer of the games, also shared images of the production, highlighting among them one where Holland appears with actor Nolan North, who voiced Drake during all his adventures; an encounter between the old and the new that can thrill those who have waited for this film for more than a decade.

“Uncharted” It has a release date of February 22, 2022.

Clarification: The original version of this note came out on October 27, 2020 when the first images of the project were released. Almost a year later, on October 21, we republished it after the release of the first trailer for the film.