--- title: Uncharted Movie: Tom Holland Cast in Prequel to Video Games description: Sony is rewriting its Uncharted script to center on a teenage Nate Drake. Tom Holland, who plays the new Spider-Man, will star in the movie. canonical: https://time.com/4788898/uncharted-movie-prequel-tom-holland/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-22T20:38:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:03:34.717Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Why the Uncharted Movie Is Being Turned Into a Prequel og:description: Sony cast Tom Holland as young Nathan Drake og:url: https://time.com/4788898/uncharted-movie-prequel-tom-holland/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d80e6f26b13e6d6/6988ce5a8fd2ee5e003572b0/nathan-drake-holland.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: nathan-drake-holland og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why the Uncharted Movie Is Being Turned Into a Prequel twitter:description: Sony cast Tom Holland as young Nathan Drake twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d80e6f26b13e6d6/6988ce5a8fd2ee5e003572b0/nathan-drake-holland.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why the _Uncharted_ Movie Is Being Turned Into a Prequel  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 22, 2017 8:38 PM UTC  Naughty Dog / Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent May 22, 2017 8:38 PM UTC The actor who plays the new Spider-Man is finding more walls to climb. Sony announced Monday that [Tom Holland](http://time.com/4771404/tom-holland-umbrella-dance/), who will star in Sony’s upcoming [_Spider-Man: Homecoming_](http://time.com/4714904/spider-man-homecoming-trailer-tom-holland-michael-keaton-vulture/), will also play a young Nathan Drake in an _Uncharted_ movie based on the wildly popular Naughty Dog video game series. Both Spidey and Drake have a talent for scaling walls, so in that sense Holland is an obvious choice. But in the video games, Drake — a treasure hunter in the vein of [Lara Croft](http://time.com/4126978/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-review/) or [Indiana Jones](http://time.com/4259611/indiana-jones-harrison-ford-steven-spielberg/) — is significantly older than the 20-year-old actor. Holland’s casting means the _Uncharted_ movie will be rewritten as a prequel to the PS4 series, a major diversion from Sony’s original plan. Here’s what you need to know. ### An _Uncharted_ movie has been in the works for awhile Sony announced it was making an _Uncharted_ film way back in 2009 (even before the game’s [well-reviewed](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1945379%5F1944169%5F1944191,00.html) sequels came out). Since then, the project has gone through a number of different scripts, directors ([including David O. Russell](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/uncharted-why-david-o-russell-201391)) and actors ([including Mark Wahlberg](http://collider.com/uncharted-movie-mark-wahlberg/)). The most recent script was written for an adult Drake character, but Sony scrapped that idea after chief Tom Rothman saw footage from _Spider-Man: Homecoming_, [according to Deadline](http://deadline.com/2017/05/tom-holland-uncharted-nathan-drake-movie-spider-man-homecoming-shawn-levy-1202099530/). He was so impressed with Holland he decided to rethink the _Uncharted_ project and build a second franchise around the young actor. **MORE** [Review: _Uncharted 4_ Is the Beguiling Series’ Absolute Best](http://time.com/4313491/uncharted-4-review/) ### Sony will reconfigure the movie as a prequel Throughout the years, [fans have questioned](https://gameraven.com/editorials/need-uncharted-film) why the highly cinematic video game series [needs a motion picture](https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2017/01/09/should-we-get-excited-for-the-uncharted-movie/#339dd0125ddd). An adaption of the games might feel repetitive: Watching Drake explore the same lost cities as a passive audience member rather than participating in his discoveries as a player could strip the series of much of its wonder. But making a prequel film may resolve some of those issues. ### Drake already has a backstory **_Minor spoilers for the four_** **Uncharted** **_video games ahead_** The _Uncharted_ video games slowly reveal information about Nate Drake’s background. As an orphan, he claimed the name in homage to the explorer Sir Francis Drake, whom he sometimes claims as an ancestor. In flashbacks, the player learns that Drake’s mother was an historian (hence his knowledge of hidden cities). Drake fell into treasure hunting at a young age, partly as a way to uncover clues to his own past. In _Uncharted 3_, players learn in several flashbacks that a 14-year-old Drake met a rogue named Victor Sullivan (Sully) while robbing a museum. Sully took him under his wing and plays a major role in all four video games as a mentor to the adult Drake. ### The movie will center on flashbacks from _Uncharted 3_ The first Sully-Drake interaction from the game will be the basis for the film. Holland does have a striking resemblance to the teenage Nate. A walkthrough of a part of _Uncharted_ _3_ below teases the dynamic between young Drake and Sully and also hints at why Sony may have been so eager to cast the Spidey actor in such an acrobatic role. Movies about a teenage Drake could still leave the door open for films about the explorer when he’s older. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4788898/uncharted-movie-prequel-tom-holland/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4788898/uncharted-movie-prequel-tom-holland/"},"headline":"Why the Uncharted Movie Is Being Turned Into a Prequel","datePublished":"2017-05-22T20:38:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:03:34.717Z","description":"Sony cast Tom Holland as young Nathan Drake","url":"https://time.com/4788898/uncharted-movie-prequel-tom-holland/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d80e6f26b13e6d6/6988ce5a8fd2ee5e003572b0/nathan-drake-holland.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1d80e6f26b13e6d6/6988ce5a8fd2ee5e003572b0/nathan-drake-holland.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"nathan-drake-holland","caption":"","creditText":"Naughty Dog / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4788898/uncharted-movie-prequel-tom-holland/","name":"Why the Uncharted Movie Is Being Turned Into a Prequel"}}]}] ```