It's been a long and bumpy road for the feature film adaptation of Uncharted. While it's not unusual for film adaptations of games to go through difficult development periods, the Uncharted film holds the distinct honor of having begun all the way back in 2008. For many years the project was considered to be in development hell, and constantly on the brink of being fully abandoned. Twelve years after that initial announcement however, and the film has beaten the odds, managing to finish filming over a decade after the project began.
News that an Uncharted film was in the works first broke during a Kotaku interview 12 years ago. At the time, producer Avi Arad mentioned he was working on the adaptation of the video game series, which at the time was ramping up towards the release of Uncharted 2. Two years later there were confirmations that David O. Russel was signed to direct the piece, and that Mark Wahlberg was interested in taking on the role of Nathan Drake. Over time, however, directors came and went like the project was a revolving door. Uncharted cycled thorough no less than 5 directors before landing on Ruben Fleischer, who has finally stuck around to see the film through.
The current version of the film has been re-tooled to some extent, and will now feature a younger version of Nathan Drake as played by Tom Holland. Mark Wahlberg is still involved, but now as Sully, Drake's older traveling companion and pilot. Audiences haven't heard too much about the story yet, but it will feature a narrative surrounding famous explorer Ferdinand Magellan, which sounds to be pretty in line with the kind of adventures featured in the games.
The conclusion of filming was announced by the Uncharted film's twitter account, which included the phrase "Sic Parvis Magna." That phrase is closely associated with the character of Drake, who believes it to mean ""greatness from small beginnings." While the film is currently slated to open on July 16, there is always the chance of a delay resulting from Covid-19 concerns. Hopefully though, the adventures of Nathan Drake will arrive in theaters as expected so that audiences can see what 12 years of work has resulted in.
Uncharted is scheduled for release in theaters July 16 of 2021.
Source: Unchartedmovie/Twitter