Yesterday was a big day for the long-gestating Uncharted movie. Not only has the project secured its seventh (and I pray final) director, it's also snagged a recently Oscar-nominated actor to play a key role. None other than Antonio Banderas is set to star alongside Tom Holland's younger Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg's Victor "Sully" Sullivan in the upcoming flick.
You'll know of Banderas from all sorts of films of varying quality. Most recently, he was up for Best Actor at the Academy Awards for his performance in the excellent Pain and Glory... but I like to think we all remember him best as Puss In Boots in the Shrek movies. Or as the dad in Spy Kids. Take your pick. It's not yet known exactly who he'll be playing in the Uncharted movie, but I look forward to seeing what he brings to the mysterious role.
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As for the new director? According to a new report from Variety, Ruben Fleischer is to be the latest in a long line of filmmakers slated to helm the project. Fleischer, who directed 2019's Venom and Zombieland: Double Tap, was reportedly Sony's top pick after the last director had to part ways with Uncharted due to scheduling conflicts.
It would appear that the movie is now fully on track to make its scheduled March 5th, 2021 release, but I won't hold my breath. A live-action Uncharted movie has been in some form of development since 2008, and has gone though a really rather alarming number of directors in that time.
Travis Knight (Bumblebee/Kubo and the Two Strings) was the last director before Fleischer to attempt to get Uncharted to release. He was called in to replace Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane), who in turn was enlisted in April last year following the departure of Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum).
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I truly want to believe that Fleischer - AKA lucky number seven - will be the one who finally gets the film over the line, but I'm afraid at this point I'll need to be sat in the cinema waiting to see Uncharted before I can accept it's finished. And even then I'll probably have my doubts.
Uncharted is scheduled to start shooting this summer, and Holland recently spoke very highly of the script. Reiterating that the movie is an origin story for Nathan Drake, the Spider-Man actor claimed that the latest version of the script is one of "the best he's ever read". Let's hope Fleischer isn't so dazzled by it that he can't get it on the big screen, eh?
Featured Image Credit: SonyTopics: PlayStation, Uncharted, Naughty Dog