The INDIANA JONES series with Harrison Ford has inspired generations of viewers to find the fun in history, embrace the spirit of adventure and discover the joy in punching make-believe Nazi’s and pretending your belt is a whip. JONES' influence even extends to the massively successful UNCHARTED series, with the games creating a new kind of archaeological adventure starring a loveable hero for the modern age. Now, the director of the film adaptation says the JONES influence will carry into the movie, which he hopes inspire just as many new viewers.
While speaking with Nerdist about the upcoming season of STRANGER THINGS, UNCHARTED director Shawn Levy spoke about how he wants a new generation of fans to fall in love with the adventures of Nathan Drake (played by Tom Holland) much in the way audiences did for Jones (Ford) in the original films:
I met with Tom Holland and he put it really succinctly,” Levy explained. “If we do the origin of Drake, that hasn’t been done before. It’s a Drake chapter that hasn’t been told … an Indiana Jones story for a generation that didn’t grow up on Indiana Jones.
There are four games in the saga of Drake, with all four games putting the focus on an adult Drake as he battles pirates, bandits, and all manner of thieves in his quest for ancient treasure. In the latter two games, players get to play scenes with a young Drake, and the movie will star a Drake who is just starting to break into the world of explosive treasure hunting. Levy would go on to describe the movie as a “treasure hunting film with an attitude.” That means a young Drake listens to a lot of angry music and wears a leather jacket.
Levy is right in saying we haven’t really been told the story of how Drake got into treasure hunting in his early adulthood, with players of the game having only played specific moments from his adolescence. His earliest adventure that took him from sarcastic, immature, smart-ass, but an incredibly intelligent kid to being a sarcastic, immature, smart-ass, but an incredibly intelligent adult could make a fun movie. He certainly won’t attain the status of Indiana Jones, but If it works out well Holland’s Drake could be a great new entry into the action hero pantheon…unless the “Video Game Movie Curse” takes another victim.
UNCHARTED is aiming for a 2018 release.