10 Upcoming Movies That Have Already Been Saved From Sucking
6. Uncharted
The Original Pitch
An Uncharted movie has been a priority for Sony since the series’ early days on the PS3, but they haven’t been able to make it work, grasping at straws with a plethora of different directors, writers and actors with seemingly no clue as to how they should adapt the property for the silver screen.
Part of the problem with this project is that everyone they’ve brought onboard seems to have seriously misunderstood the source material. Proposed Uncharted films have ranged from David O. Russell’s bizarre idea of a family story featuring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci as Drake’s dad and uncle, respectively, to hiring the writers of National Treasure to, presumably, write a National Treasure film in an Uncharted skin.
This is because most of these guys aren’t actually fans of the games, and are basing their movie ideas off blanket, generic descriptions of the franchise they’ve read on the back of game boxes and on Wikipedia pages. “Uncharted is about treasure hunting? Cool, let’s do National Treasure!” or “Uncharted is about Nate and his kooky old mentor? Okay, let’s make the movie about Drake and his oddball crime family!”
The movie needs a competent filmmaker who’s a genuine fan of the games, an equation that it’s only got half right up until this point.
How It's Been Saved
In its current state, however, the movie finally looks like it’s in a stable place.
In January 2019, Dan Trachtenberg signed on to direct the film, fresh of the success of the brilliant 10 Cloverfield Lane. Trachtenberg is a proper video game and Uncharted fan, having directed the recent CGI trailer for Warframe, as well as a short film set in the Portal universe. Both of those projects proved that he understands how to translate the feel and essence of a game into something more cinematic.
Plus, Tom Holland (who’s currently attached) is a serious upgrade from Mark Wahlberg, who was on the cards for many years. Wahlberg’s humour is quite dry and his action roles quite flat (Mile 22, Transformers, Contraband), whereas Holland’s day job is to literally spout quips while running, jumping and climbing around. He's fantastic at it too, and the skillset is basically transferable straight to Drake.
While a film about young Drake may not be what most fans want, this is probably the best possible version of that idea we could hope for.