The first project from Sony Entertainment’s newly-established game-to-film/tv wing, Playstation Productions, Uncharted was a surprise hit of 2022. Based on the game series created and developed by Naughty Dog, the movie stars Tom Holland as Nathan Drake, a wannabe adventurer who teams up with “antiquities acquirer” Victor Sullivan, played by Mark Wahlberg, for a globe-spanning treasure hunt. The film opened in 2022 as one of the only theatrical-exclusive experiences, after other studios pledged their movies to streaming services or VOD. Yet, the movie proved to be a box office success, making over $400 Million on a $120 Million budget. With the chances at a sequel high, it should be considered how a future Uncharted movie might handle the stories of the original games. While the movie did end with a set-up for the treasure featured in the first game, any Uncharted sequels would do better to tell its own original stories, and instead try to integrate themselves with the larger storyline.

New Adventures, New Treasures

Mark Wahlberg and Tom Holland in Uncharted
Sony Pictures

The first Uncharted movie set itself apart from other video game adaptations by not strictly adapting one or more of the games in the original series. Instead, it features a new origin story for Nathan Drake and his partnership with treasure hunter Victor Sullivan. The approach originally stemmed from Tom Holland’s pitch for a new James Bond film, in which a spy-in-training would not be revealed as 007 until the very end of the film. While that pitch didn’t go very far, the idea of Holland portraying a younger version of an iconic character stuck, leading to Uncharted. While Nathan Drake’s origins were explored throughout sections of the third and fourth games, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, they were featured more as flashbacks. Uncharted largely does away with these backstories, instead opting for one tying closer to Nathan’s brother Sam, who wasn’t even mentioned until the final game in the series. In the Uncharted movie, Nathan’s search for the treasure and his brother are intertwined, aiming for a more personal story that establishes the character’s goals and sensibilities.

By avoiding the same settings as the games, the Uncharted movie also gives itself its own distinct style, which future movies can expand on. Whereas the original Uncharted games on PlayStation were billed on tropic vistas, deep jungles and the like, the movie instead goes for something closer to National Treasure, featuring a number of ancient areas that are hidden among modern civilization. One standout scene in the movie features Nate and Chloe searching for a clue in a place that was turned into a Papa John’s pizza. This is a type of modernity that is difficult to create and render in video games, where untouched nature is harder to find in Hollywood filmmaking. A future Uncharted movie should play into its predecessors strength and include these more populated environments, with the treasure hidden inside.

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Integrating with the Larger Story

Uncharted Will Begin Shooting in Early 2015
Sony Interactive Entertainment

While the post-credits ending of the Uncharted movie neatly leads right into the story of the first game, it shouldn’t necessarily require the sequel to follow that game’s story. At the first movie’s conclusion, Nathan retrieves a clue pertaining to the location of El Dorado, the coveted treasure of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. But it would be wiser for the next movie to instead pick up after Drake’s Fortune, and lead the heroes towards the next game in the series, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The second game picks up with Nathan Drake split up from his companion/love interest from the first installment, reporter Elena Fisher, and now scheming with fellow treasure hunter Chloe Frazer. Chloe was already introduced and heavily involved in the first Uncharted movie, played by Sophia Ali. While a return in the movie’s sequel should almost be expected, Chloe does not feature as a character in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

If one or more Uncharted sequels chose instead to operate between the events of the games, there is a greater opportunity for enhancing the story of Uncharted, rather than simply remixing it. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception opens up with Nathan, Sully, and Chloe already deep in the search for a treasure, which would allow a movie to take place beforehand that features the same trio of characters from the movie. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End features numerous flashbacks with a younger Nathan alongside his brother Sam, so a future movie could have the duo reunite in search of a different relic.

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Charting its Own Path

Tom Holland in Uncharted shining a flashlight upwards, with Mark Wahlberg behind him
Sony Pictures Releasing

The Uncharted games themselves are meant to feel like action-adventure movies, but with the pacing and structure of a video game. Whereas the story of an Uncharted game will usually last around six to ten hours, movies have completely different expectations when it comes to length and pacing. With its longer playtime, the Uncharted games will break up longer story sections with large-scale set pieces. While these set pieces are the hallmarks of the series, they are often not as integral to the story, which puts them at danger if the story were being truncated to under two hours. In Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Nathan is kidnaped by pirates, escapes to a ship graveyard, boards a cruise ship, which dramatically sinks. But afterwards, Nathan returns, and the story “resumes”. If an Uncharted movie were to adapt one of the titular games, it would eventually have to cut, or at least heavily restructure the game’s standout set pieces.

The Uncharted movie was a welcome surprise for Sony that morphed into franchise potential. If Naughty Dog’s beloved game series does receive multiple movie sequels, it would be smart to continue to explore the undiscovered sections of Nathan Drake’s life, rather than get bogged down in a straight adaptation.