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News movies & tv series 07 July 2020, 13:48

author: Milosz Szubert

Nolan North: Uncharted's Movie Adaptation Should not be Exact

In a recent interview for Youtube channel Screen Junkies, Nolan North, who provided his voice to Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series, stressed that in his opinion the upcoming movie adaptation of the series should not be exact. According to the latest plans, the movie will debut on July 16, 2021.

IN A NUTSHELL
  1. According to Nolan North, who lent his voice to Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series, the movies based on the games should not be an exact adaptation of any of its features.
  2. All because these games are already cinematic enough. Transferring them to the cinema screen with no element of interactivity could disturb the experience.
  3. However, if the filmmakers wanted to create an accurate screen adaptation of any part of Naughty Dog's popular series, then in North's opinion the ideal person to play Nathan Drake would be Chris Pine.
  4. According to current plans, Uncharted will debut in theatres on July 16, 2021.

When we learned in May 2017 that the role of Nathan Drake in the upcoming adaptation of the Uncharted series will be played by Tom Holland (more widely known as Spider-Man's latest incarnation), there were some voices of dissatisfaction on the web from people who didn't quite like the idea for showing the famous treasure hunter's youth and would prefer to see the adventures of the hero from a period closer to the games. Taking a bigger distance from them, however, may eventually make the movie good. At least that's what Nolan North, the actor who provided his voice to Nathan Drake in Naughty Dog's games, says. During an interview for Youtube channel Screen Junkies, he emphasized that, in his opinion, the upcoming movie should not be an exact adaptation of one of the games.

Nolan North commented on the upcoming adaptation of the Uncharted series. / Source: Eurogamer

North argues that Uncharted games have enough cinematic elements in them, not to mention the fact that the players can control them. To quote the actor's words (via Screen Rant):

"If they were going to do a one to one type thing – which again, I don’t think is a very good idea for video games, because Uncharted is a movie and you’re the star of that game. You’re the star of that movie because you’re Nathan Drake, not me. It’s my voice, it’s my movements, but you’re Nathan Drake. You make the decisions to jump, run, fall off a cliff - like I do – whatever."

As a result, an attempt to recreate the plot of games to the cinema screen can lead to a disturbing experience and a disappointing end result. Will Uncharted movie avoid this by taking a slightly different path? We will find out about it in the future.

Would Chris Pine be a good Nathan Drake?

However, if the filmmakers would like to adapt one of the Uncharted games, North believes that Chris Pine would be the perfect match for Nathan Drake. The two men had the opportunity to work together on the set Star Trek Into Darkness. This is what one of the meetings between them was like according to North:

"One time during in the make-up trailer, I said to him, "Hey, if a script called Uncharted ever comes through your agent's desk, you should take a good hard look at it, because I think you'd be perfect character for it."

Uncharted movie has gone through a lot in its historry. The first reports about it date back to 2008. During that time, the project recycled a lot of scriptwriters and seven directors. As things stand now, Nathan Drake's cinematic adventure will be shot by Ruben Fleischer (Venom) based on a script by Art Marcum and Matt Holloway. Apart from Tom Holloway, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas, Sophia Ali, and Tati Gabrielle will also be starring in the movie. It will debut in theatres on July 16 2021 (unless further delays occur).

  1. Uncharted - official website
  2. Sony Pictures - official website

Milosz Szubert

Milosz Szubert

A film expert by education. Has been working at Gamepressure.com since January 2017. A fan of tennis, basketball, comics, good books, history, and strategic games by Paradox. Recently a self-taught Game Master (apparently he's quite good at it). For several years, he edited films on the Notatnik Kinomana channel on YouTube.

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