Following the release of the first trailer for the upcoming video game adaptation Uncharted, Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann has offered some insight into director Ruben Fleischer's approach to bringing the popular property to live action. While speaking with PlayStation, Druckmann shared that Fleischer's aim was to make an Uncharted movie that will appeal to "both hardcore fans of the game and those who are not yet familiar with the franchise."

Continuing, Druckmann declared that he believes "that both will be equally entertained by this incredibly fun and action-packed film," which stars Spider-Man: No Way Home's Tom Holland and Transformers: The Last Knight's Mark Wahlberg as intrepid adventurers Nathan Drake and Victor "Sully" Sullivan.

Appealing to both hardcore fans and new ones will be no easy feat, and while the recently released footage does show off some surprisingly faithful action sequences, many have taken issue with some of the casting choices and story beats. Attempting to walk the line between old fans and newcomers will surely be a difficult task, with the worst case scenario being that you could end up alienating both.

Based on one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed video game series of all time, Uncharted tells the story of Nathan Drake and his first adventure with rival-turned-partner Victor "Sully" Sullivan. Starring Tom Holland as Nathan Drake and Mark Wahlberg as quick-witted, wise-cracking Sully, Uncharted will introduce audiences to how Nathan Drake becomes the treasure hunter as he unravels one of history's greatest mysteries and treasures in an action-adventure epic that spans the globe.

Zombieland: Double Tap director Ruben Fleischer is at the helm of this big screen adaptation, with the current script coming from Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. The movie will reportedly serve as a prequel to the video game series, with the story taking inspiration from 2016's Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Making up the supporting cast alongside Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg are Sophia Taylor Ali as Chloe Frazer, a fellow fortune hunter who is Nate's love interest, and Tati Gabrielle as Braddock. Antonio Banderas will also feature in an as-yet-undisclosed role.

Getting Uncharted to the big screen has been more challenging that any of Nathan Drake's adventures, with the movie having been on the cards for so long that Mark Wahlberg was originally due to play Drake rather than Sully. "I was attached for years and years to play Nathan Drake and now I'm playing Sully." Wahlberg has revealed in the past. "There was that biological clock. We gotta' get going quickly." Wahlberg went on to confirm that Uncharted is something of an origin story saying that Drake and Sully are, "trying to not only get over on each other, but also starting to partner up and develop that relationship. It'll be very cool. It's the first time I'm in a movie that's a movie."

Uncharted is scheduled to be released in movie theaters by Sony Pictures Releasing in the United States on February 18, 2022, having been delayed again, and again, and again since all the way back in 2016. Here's hoping that it was all worth it. This comes to us from the PlayStation official blog.