Sony’s upcoming Uncharted film, an adaptation of the popular video game franchise, could be pulling inspiration from a curious place – a 2018 Uncharted fan film starring Nathan Fillion. The official movie recently wrapped filming after more than a decade of pre-production limbo, with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg leading the cast as Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan, respectively. Uncharted is slated for release on July 16, 2021.
The video game series began in 2007 on the PlayStation 3, now including four core entries and two full spinoffs. Largely inspired by Indiana Jones and other similar adventure stories, the games star Nathan Drake – a debonair thief, con man, historian, multi-linguist, and hater of helicopters. Most iterations culminate with the discovery of some lost city or cursed treasure, or both, usually with Drake and company barely escaping death. The games have been praised for their sharp writing and cinematic quality, as well as for their stellar gameplay.
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Now that the franchise is finally being adapted to the big screen officially, it might be taking inspiration from a less official source. In 2018, an Uncharted fan film directed by Allan Ungar was released on YouTube. The short, 15 minute movie starred Nathan Fillion as Drake – a casting which had long been called for by fans – and Stephen Lang as Sully. It’s a brilliant, tight, and comprehensive piece, and its story revolves some lost treasure of Ferdinand Magellan. Photos released in promotion of Sony’s film have also featured quotes by Magellan, suggesting the narrative could be taking a similar turn.
Of course, there are only so many Elizabethan pirates, sailors and brigands to invoke, and an Uncharted story certainly needs one. Magellan is one of the most famous such historical figure yet to be featured in an Uncharted story, so it could be that both writing teams simply picked by process of elimination. However, it’s also possible that people involved in the new film watched Ungar’s during the process. Given how many times the project has been abandoned and restarted, it doesn’t seem out of the question.
Hopefully, the Tom Holland film will satisfy fans at least partially as well as Fillion’s did in 2018. Video game adaptation are notoriously hard to pull off, but what we know of the movie so far seems to point in the right direction. Nolan North, the original voice (and motion capture) of Nath Drake, has even signed off on Holland’s version of the character, which is a good sign. Uncharted is slated for release on July 16, 2021.
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