Uncharted: Drake’s Unmade Film
Is it finally time for that long-awaited action film based on the Uncharted video game series and it’s story-driven, Indiana Jones-like star character Nate Drake? The short answer is “No”, at least not from mainstream Hollywood.
Since the start of the series on PlayStation in 2007, fans have wanted to see more of Nate Drake. The games blended beautiful and genre-expanding animation, talented voice acting, and some really great stories. All of this lends itself to a Hollywood blockbuster like the Tomb Raider series has tried time and time again to be (with variable success).
Even though the powers that be in the mainstream entertainment world haven’t found their way into the Uncharted universe yet, the fans have! In one of the latest and highest profile fan projects, Nathan Fillion stars as Nate in a really well done 15-minute piece.
This short film really shows the potential in the franchise, and even includes a partially over the shoulder action sequence that looks straight out of the game. Nathan Fillion does a good job of filling the role and deserves a salute for always championing the fandom by respecting the geeks that helped to build his career.
Click here to take a look at an older Uncharted fan film, done as a 7 part YouTube series, by a company called Lost In Time Pictures. This project that doesn’t include any well-known actors, but it does include some talented ones, has a well-told story, and solid filmmakers involved in what was clearly a very passionately made project although without the budget or production value of the recent Nathan Fillion version.
The Hollywood film studios first confirmed their plans to create a film based on the games (that weren’t even a full-fledged franchise yet) back in 2009, and since have gone through several confirmed writers, directors, and even stars (including Mark Wahlberg at one point) and Nathan Fillion literally tried to engage his fan base and use Twitter to push the film into production then, but to no avail. Based on the latest information from Sony Pictures, the project is still in very early pre-production, with Shawn Levy (known for his work on Stranger Things) set to direct and Tom Holland, “maybe” attached in the lead.
Although Hollywood may not be ready to produce the Uncharted film we need, that may be for the best. Odds are that the fans would only be disappointed by its lack of soul anyway. For now, the films by fans are good and entertaining, and that’s all we really need.
