Tom Holland’s web-slinger might have an uncertain future with the fractured business relationship between SONY and Marvel,- but for the moment he remains attached to the big-screen adaptation of the acclaimed PS4 game series Unchartered. This is despite the film’s director Dan Trachtenburg (who recently helmed the pilot for The Boys for SONY TV) leaving the project this week. Industry site Deadline reports that the studio is currently looking for a quick replacement to helm the production with an eye to keeping the filming on track for early in 2020.
Holland was something of a surprise announcement for the project. The Unchartered games deal with the character of Nathan Drake a rough-and-ready treasure-hunter who engages in high-risk/high-reward quests to uncover ancient artifacts. The games have been a massive hit, arguably eclipsing the Tomb Raider titles. However Nathan Drake is a muscular, heavy-set man in his thirties and…. well, Holland is not. The idea is apparently that the movies will depict Drake at a much younger age, as seen in some of the game’s flashbacks, when he and his brother Sam were newly orphaned and run away, setting out to finish their parents’ work.
There had been talk at one point of Firefly/Castle/The Rookie star Nathan Fillion circling the role and the actor even went as far as to make an unofficial but glossy, impressive and very faithful mini-movie ‘pitch’ with director Allan Ungar, starring himself as Drake (and also featuring Stephen Lang, Geno Segers, Mircea Monroe and Ernie Reyes Jr.) which met with huge support from the game’s fans. The timing of the Unchartered film may be affected if SONY and Marvel can sort out their differences… though – equally – Unchartered will be the first for the newly-formed Sony PlayStation Productions and so a lot of effort will be make everything work… one way or another.
