Tom Holland has reflected on the long process that led to finding the right director for Sony’s Uncharted movie- calling it stressful. The anticipated video game movie first went into big-screen development at Sony Pictures in 2008, following the successful first PS3 game. Since then, the project has gone through several directors including David O. Russell, Seth Gordon and Dan Trachtenberg. Eventually, Zombieland: Double Tap and Venom’s Ruben Fleischer became attached to direct and the film finally went into full production in 2020.
Acting as a semi-prequel to the game series, Holland plays young adventurer Nathan Drake; who finds himself drawn into the world of relics, danger and glory with his mentor Sully, played here by Mark Wahlberg. The long-troubled production history of the film meant that Wahlberg (who was originally cast in 2008 as the heroic Drake) became old enough to play the supporting father-figure role. Holland and Wahlberg are joined by Sophia Ali, Antonio Banderas and Tati Gabrielle among others to bring to life a screenplay penned by Iron Man screenwriting duo Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Fans of the games are excited, but cautious (following years of failed video game movies) for the film.
Now, in an interview with Total Film, lead actor and Spider-Man star Holland has spoken out about the challenges of finding the right director for the ambitious movie. Holland recalls how some previously attached filmmakers “had ideas that we didn’t like” and that led to the frequent comings and going’s behind the scenes. Speaking specifically about the characterization of the protagonists, he adds “There were very different variations of Drake, and […] Sully”. Holland details how some of the directors wanted to “make the game” in a supposedly shot-for-shot fashion, while other candidates strayed from the source material drastically. The Hollywood star doesn’t look back on the process all too fondly, adding “It’s quite stressful looking for a director”. Read his full interview quote below:
“Some of [the directors] came in, and had ideas that we didn’t like, that just didn’t fit the characters, and we had to move on to other people. We took inspiration from everyone. There were very different variations of Drake, and very different variations of Sully. Some people preferred to make the game, some people wanted to make it completely different to the game. It was an interesting process – one that I wouldn’t like to be in again. It’s quite stressful looking for a director.”
Uncharted is set to be one of the biggest movies of the year, filled to the brim with the video game’s trademark huge action set-pieces; as seen in the recently released clip which brings to life one of the most infamous and intense high-altitude scenes from the game Uncharted 3. While some fans have questioned the casting of Holland and Wahlberg, particularly the latter’s switch-around, some doubt was allayed by a recent trailer which revealed Sully will don his recognizable moustache at some point in the film. Holland’s stressful experience during pre-production was followed by the challenge of bulking up for the action-filled movie, with the actor admitting he trained hard.
The actor’s comments are unsurprising and confirm that Uncharted is a feat of filmmaking purely for making it out of the apparent development hell it was in for over a decade. Whatever the end result may be, Uncharted seems to have found its man in Fleischer, whose recent collaborations with Sony, Zombieland 2 and Venom, were both relative successes for the studio and combined action with comedy in a way befitting to Uncharted.
Source: Total Film
- Uncharted (2022)Release date: Feb 11, 2022
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