Variety brings word today that Mark Wahlberg has climbed aboard Uncharted in the role of Victor “Sully” Sullivan, treasure hunter and all-around father figure to Nathan Drake.
Providing Wahlberg and Sony reach an agreement, the Transformers actor will join Tom Holland for the PlayStation-inspired blockbuster. And fun fact: Wahlberg was originally tipped to play the adult Drake long before Sony’s video game movie was sent back to the drawing board, at a time when David O. Russell (whom Wahlberg collaborated with on The Fighter) was in the director’s chair.
Word is Mark Wahlberg’s interest in the project never waned, even when the Powers That Be decided to angle it more as an origin story featuring Tom Holland as the younger Drake. And so, after losing directors Dan Trachtenberg and Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) to creative differences, and appointing Travis Knight (Bumblebee, Kubo and The Two Strings) at the helm, it seems Sony’s Uncharted movie has finally turned a corner. With Wahlberg and Tom Holland in tow, no less.
On script duties for this one are Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Rafe Judkins, and while it’s far too soon for Sony to divulge any story details, it’s likely that the live-action Uncharted film will mine inspiration from Drake’s Deception, the third installment in the popular video game series which featured a series of flashbacks to Nathan Drake’s first encounter with Sully, who would go on to become something of a father figure to Drake.
From Nepal to the gilded ruins of El Dorado, the pair have truly seen it all, so we’re hopeful that Holland and Walhberg will be able to strike up the same chemistry when the Playstation epic is finally – finally! – fit for the silver screen.
Travis Knight’s long-awaited Uncharted movie shoots for theaters in December 2020, when Holland and Walhberg will be sent on a swashbuckling adventure across the globe.
