An official Uncharted movie has been stuck in limbo for nearly a decade, but that hasn’t deterred director Allan Ungar from producing a 15-minute short film. What sets this Uncharted fan-film apart from others is that it’s actually quite good.
The film stars Nathan Fillion as series protagonist Nathan Drake. Drake is like a modern day Indiana Jones: cool, confident, wise-cracking, and always getting into scrapes on his quest for lost treasure. Fillion has lots of geek cred thanks to his role in Firefly and voice work in Halo and Destiny. It also helps that he’s the spitting image of Nathan Drake.
The fan film also stars Stephen Lang as Victor “Sully” Sullivan and Mircea Monroe as Elena, both excellent casting to round out Drake’s original team.
The high production values, from legitimate movie stars to proper editing, cinematography, and music elevate the Uncharted film far above most not-for-profit fan-made ventures. But it’s the little details that make it special for Uncharted fans, including Drake’s hand-to-hand fighting style, and the way the camera snaps to a third-person angle during the brief shootout during the escape.
According to Ungar, the entire film was organized in January and shot in a single week in May earlier this year.
Sony has yet to officially comment but the movie remains up on YouTube, currently with about 1.5 million views. Neil Druckmann, VP of Uncharted developer Naughty Dog, tweeted his appreciation of the film with a single heart emoji.
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) July 16, 2018
The latest news on the official Uncharted film is that it’s going to be a prequel with a younger Nathan Drake. Spider-Man star Tom Holland is attached as the star. Shawn Levy remains as director, but the film is still in early pre-production.
