Uncharted first look, Morbius footage & more unveiled at CinemaCon

Last Updated on August 25, 2021

Sony’s CinemaCon presentation wasn’t all about Spider-Man: No Way Home & Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The studio had other projects they wanted to tease and that included a new look at Tom Holland as Nathan Drake in Uncharted and more footage of Jared Leto in action in Morbius.

Uncharted is slated to hit screens in under six months so it’s about that time to start building anticipation for the upcoming video game adaptation. While Sony hasn’t released footage to the general public just yet, the studio did show some unseen footage from the film at CinemaCon and it puts Tom Holland in the center of the action as Nathan Drake. From the looks of it, Sony is going for an Indiana Jones/Jumanji vibe for the film with massive amounts of action and humor. It also looks like it will be a lot of fun for the entire family with the adventure being at the center of the film. We also got a snippet of Mark Wahlberg as Sully, sans mustache so far, and since Holland was at the center of most of the action footage, it appears Wahlberg, as of now, isn’t taking over in that arena judging from the first footage.

Uncharted, directed by Ruben Fleischer, serves as the origin story for protagonist Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) from the video games of the same name created by Amy Hennig. Uncharted is an action-adventure game that follows Drake, a treasure hunter, who travels across the world to uncover various historical mysteries. The main series began with “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune”, released on PlayStation 3 in 2007, and was followed by several sequels. The series has been universally acclaimed and commercially successful, having shipped more than 41 million units, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time. The film also stars Mark Wahlberg as his future mentor Victor Sullivan along with a supporting cast that includes Antonio Banderas, Sophia Taylor Ali, and Tati Gabrielle. Uncharted hits screens on February 18, 2022.

Next up we were given a new look at Morbius, which features Jared Leto in action as the titular character. The footage provides a better look at the final version of the character which looks much better than what we’ve seen so far. The footage gives off a Venom vibe in terms of visuals but the tone appears a lot less humorous than that film. I imagine a full trailer should be dropping soon.

Morbius suffered several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film’s original release date was July 10, 2020, which was then shifted to July 31, 2020. From there the film was pushed to Match 19, 2021, and then to October 8, 2021. After that delay, the film saw another release date shift to January 21, 2022, and from there Morbius was moved one last time to its current date of January 28, 2022. In the film, Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) becomes a vampire after attempting to cure himself of a rare blood disease. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, the cast also includes Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson.

Other highlights from the Sony presentation included a look at Spider-Gwen (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld) from Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 2. The footage shows Spider-Gwen overlooking the city and while that isn’t much, people were pretty psyched about it because of how well the first film turned out. The sequel is expected to hit screens on October 7, 2022.

In non-comic book-related Sony footage from the presentation, we got a look at Jonathan Majors in the Korean War drama Devotion. The footage that was screened looked pretty good and it looks like it could be aiming to be an awards contender. In the film, a pair of U.S. Navy fighter pilots risk their lives during the Korean War and become some of the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen. Directed by J.D. Dillard, the film also stars Serinda Swan, Glen Powell, and Joe Jonas.

Lastly, we have Where the Crawdads Sing, based on the novel of the same name by Delia Owens. Sony seemed pretty excited about the film because the novel is pretty popular. Gives off a bit of a Nicholas Sparks and we know that can be a big sell with the target demographic. The plot of the book follows two timelines that slowly intertwine with the first timeline describing the life and adventures of a young girl named Kya as she grows up isolated in the marsh of North Carolina from 1952 to 1969. The second timeline follows a murder investigation of Chase Andrews, a local celebrity of Barkley Cove, a fictional coastal town of North Carolina. Directed by Olivia Newman, the film stars Taylor John Smith, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Harris Dickinson, David Strathairn, and Jayson Warner Smith.

I’d like to mention that Sony made it a point to say they were committed to the theatrical experience and seemed to blast the day-and-date model that has seen films hit theaters and streaming simultaneously. Judging from what Sony showed during their presentation, it’s great to see a studio that is still sticking with the theatrical model and believes that moviegoers do want to head back to the movies.

What are YOUR thoughts on Sony’s CinemaCon presentation?