After almost a decade of attempts, Nathan Drake is finally coming to the big screen.

As soon as we posted this article, Sony released a statement saying the Uncharted film isn’t shooting quite yet but they are preparing. Holland’s caption on his post stated “Day one”, likely referring to pre-production just before filming. Sony notes they are planning to begin shooting soon.

The original story follows below.

I have been writing about video games for 5 years. Almost all of those years have been spent following the production of a film adaptation of Uncharted. Hell, this adaptation is something they’ve been trying to do for like a decade. It has seen different directors, different actors (Mark Wahlberg, Ryan Reynolds, and Tom Holland), and many different release dates.

Fear not, though! It’s finally happening… for real this time! Tom Holland, who will play hero Nathan Drake, posted a picture on his Instagram confirming the film has begun filming. The Uncharted film was originally scheduled to shoot this spring but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the last couple of weeks, Tom Holland has been working out to get fit for the role of the PlayStation icon. In another Instagram post, Tom Holland noted that he needed to really grind because he was working alongside Mark Wahlberg who will be playing Sully. As previously mentioned, Wahlberg was originally slated to be Drake himself when the film was originally in the works but aged out of the role… moving into the role of Sully instead.

It’s not clear what the plot of the Uncharted film will be, but it’s expected to be an original story. Holland will fill the shoes of a younger Nathan Drake rather than the more experienced one we see in the four games. The film will be helmed by Venom director Ruben Fleischer who is the seventh director to try to bring this film to life.

We imagine much of the film will be shot inside studios and backlots given the pandemic. The film was originally going to be a global affair but will likely be reeled in to accommodate the production. Films like The Batman, which were shut down during filming, have also moved to shooting entirely on studio lots.

Uncharted is slated to release on July 16th, 2021 with Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, and Antonio Banderas in the cast.