Update: Missed Uncharted in the theaters? It arrives on Netflix next month
The first trailer for the Uncharted movie has landed. Based on the beloved PlayStation series developed by Naughty Dog, the film stars Tom Holland as a young Nathan Drake on a quest to find a mythical McGuffin and stop it from falling into the wrong hands.
The film is the first live-action feature effort from the newly rebranded PlayStation Productions, which is a Sony subsidiary created to help turn PlayStation games into movies and television shows. While technically existing since 2013, the Uncharted movie is the studio’s first flagship production.
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The trailer showcases several sequences that will be instantly recognizable to fans of the Uncharted video games. For starters, the cargo plane setpiece from Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and the sunken pirate ship from Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End are both replicated in the trailer. Not to mention, the full film will likely have several more familiar scenes.
Perhaps the trailer's biggest issue is that it indicates the movie won't bring anything interesting, novel or new to the franchise. It looks like it’s taking a CGI video game and translating it into a live-action film, very literally. Which just begs the question: why wouldn't audiences just play the pre-existing games instead? Especially when the video games feature a Sully with a glorious 'stache.
Alongside Holland, the film stars Mark Whalberg as mentor-figure and friend Victor “Sully” Sullivan, Sophia Taylor Ali as Chloe Frazer a fellow treasure hunter and love interest and Antonio Banderas as the film’s currently unnamed villain. It’s a cast with plenty of recognizable names, but it hasn’t been especially well-received by longtime players.
Which brings us to the elephant in the room, who actually asked for an Uncharted movie? The games are renowned for being highly cinematic and have often been described as interactive summer blockbusters. In this regard, actually bringing Nathan Drake to the big screen seems like a waste of time and resources. Especially when Sony has plenty of properties that would probably be better suited for a feature film adaptation such as God of War.
As mentioned, the casting hasn't gone down well with fans either. The decision to select Mark Wahlberg to play Sully in particular left gamers puzzled. This first trailer likely won’t have convinced anyone familiar with the source material that the decision was a wise one either.
Whether fans want it or not, the Uncharted movie is scheduled to hit theatres on February 18, 2022. It may not be the only PlayStation Productions product based on a Naughty Dog game to hit screens in 2022 either. HBO is currently filming a television adaption of The Last of Us, with a premier next year looking fairly likely.
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