New look at UNCHARTED movie with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg

“Everyone obsessed with treasure gets what they deserve.”

This quote comes from “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” on the PlayStation 4, an incredibly rich and cinematic action-adventure game that packed a devastating emotional punch as the capper to Sony’s magnificent Uncharted series, which is now being poised for the big screen treatment after a decade of false-starts and development woes.

Set to release in 2022, UNCHARTED will star Tom Holland (Marvel’s Spider-Man) as a young Nathan Drake before he becomes the legendary explorer we see in the games. "

Co-starring is Mark Wahlberg as Victor “Sully” Sullivan, Drake’s mentor and best friend. Also along for the ride is Antonio Banderas (Zorro, 13th Warrior) as the film’s antagonist and Tom Hollander who played one of the best Disney villains ever with Cutler Beckett in the “Pirates” trilogy.

No word yet on if Tom HollandEST is joining.

No plot details have been revealed, but the few promotional photos seem to show ornate crosses, a wrecked pirate ship, and musty dungeons which could hint at some long-lost Spanish treasure.

The film is directed by Sony’s genre-man Ruben Fleischer (VENOM) and written by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway (Transformers: The Last Knight, Iron Man); and Rafe Judkins (Hemlock Grove, Chuck)

When UNCHARTED began production way back in my high school days, Mark Wahlberg was eyed as the raven-haired lead of Nathan Drake, and now that Wahlberg has aged out of “fresh faced lead” and into more grizzled roles like he showcased in MILE 22, it seems fitting that one of the 2000’s action star would “pass the torch” to the mid-20’s Holland who has recently been trying to make a name for himself with this year’s CHERRY and CHAOS WALKING.

This also marks Banderas’ first major role in a studio film since 2011’s HAYWIRE and 2014’s THE EXPENDABLES 3. In recent years the smoldering Spanish star has transitioned from his own swash-buckling days in action spectacles like THE MASK OF ZORRO and ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO to more thought-provoking and meatier roles like AUTOMATA, PAIN AND GLORY, KNIGHT OF CUPS, and the upcoming OFFICIAL COMPETITION.

Given Banderas’ infectious charm and commanding presence, it should be interesting to see him flip the script as a villain, especially playing against Holland and Wahlberg, who both have made a career out of snappy and brash characters.

To coincide with this week’s latest promotional look at UNCHARTED, The New York Times published an editorial on Sony’s video-game adaptations moving ahead, noting that they had over 10 projects in development which include the upcoming RESIDENT EVIL reboot as well as a TV series based on the TWISTED METAL franchise.

Most interesting of which will be the HBO series “The Last of Us” based on the PlayStation series. The show takes place in a post-apocalypse brought on by a fungal infection that has turned the living into disgustingly mutated creatures known as “Clickers”. In this desolate wasteland of America, where nature has taken back the cities and skyscrapers of our society, a smuggler named Joel (The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pacal) is tasked with escorting a special teenage girl (Game of Thrones alumni Bella Ramsey) to Colorado where her DNA might hold the key to a cure.

The series is being written by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin (CHERNOBYL) and promises to be a dark and contemplative drama. Hopefully, we see some teasers soon!