There’ve been attempts to adapt the Uncharted franchise into a movie for over a decade now, yet in all that time, the project has never progressed far enough to give fans an idea of what it will actually look like. As such, the glimpse that the movie’s star, Tom Holland, recently gave of the haircut he will sport for the film sort of counts as a first look.
Instead of directly adapting Naughty Dog’s series of critically-acclaimed games, the Uncharted movie will be a prequel that will serve as an origin story for treasure hunter Nathan Drake. It’s a sensible move, considering Holland is only 24, but since he’s known best for playing Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many fans have wondered if he has what it takes to capture any of the roguish charm that the games’ older version of Drake is known for.
While that remains to be seen, Holland gave fans an idea of what he’ll look like in the role on his Instagram page this week. In a quick video (as shared by isa on Twitter), he showed off what seems to be his younger Nathan Drake hairstyle, shaking his “floppy” hair all the while and jokingly asking the makeup artist in the background, “What have you done?”
This suggests that Holland will be able to get behind the camera soon. Uncharted was initially supposed to commence production a few months back, but was shut down on the first day of shooting thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, now that major movies like Jurassic World 3 are starting to resume filming, it’s likely that Uncharted won’t be too far behind.
But in order to start up again, productions, including Uncharted, are having to adhere to a more robust series of health guidelines and precautions, such as undergoing COVID testing. That’s likely why Holland shared a video earlier this week of him being tested, which, from the looks of it, is far from the most pleasant experience.
The Uncharted movie will be directed by Ruben Fleischer of Venom and Zombieland fame. Co-starring with Holland will be Mark Wahlberg, who, while originally cast to play Nathan Drake way back when, will now portray Drake’s mentor, Victor “Sully” Sullivan. Other actors attached to the film include Antonio Banderas, Sophia Taylor Ali, and Tati Gabrielle, though who they’re playing hasn’t been revealed yet.
Uncharted is currently slated to premiere in theaters on July 16, 2021.