Tom Holland Reveals How A Failed James Bond Pitch Lead To ‘Uncharted’

He traded a license to kill for archology.

Tom Holland James Bond Spider-Man

Spider-Man star Tom Holland recently revealed how a failed James Bond pitch lead to him playing Nathan Drake in the upcoming Uncharted film.

The story of Tom Holland’s Uncharted film has been a long one. The early development of the film went on for so long that Mark Wahlberg, who was originally set to play Nathan Drake, ended up swapping the role for Nathan’s mentor, Sully. After Tom Holland was cast as the main character, numerous directors were attached to the project including Bumblebee director, Travis Knight. Eventually, Venom director Ruben Fleischer took the helm of the project and things began to go a bit smoother. That was until production was suspended amind concerns over Covid-19.

Production for Tom Holland’s Uncharted film eventually wrapped in October of 2020, but the film was delayed numerous times until it settled on an early 2022 release date. After all the delays and behind-the-scenes trouble, it remains to be seen if the film will actually be worth it all. According to Tom Holland, however, his involvement with the film started out as a James Bond pitch.

In a recent interview with Total Film, Tom Holland spoke about an attempt he made at pitching a James Bond origin story and how uninterested everyone was in doing it:

“I had a meeting, after or during ‘Spider-Man 2’ [‘Spider Man: Far From Home’], with Sony to pitch this idea of a young Bond film that I’d come up with. It was the origin story of James Bond. It didn’t really make sense. It didn’t work. It was the dream of a young kid, and I don’t think the Bond estate [was] particularly interested.”

Later one he recounted how the failed James Bond pitch lead to the idea for an Uncharted film with him in the lead role:

“The idea of a young Bond film sparked this idea, in turn, that you could do a Nathan Drake story as an origin story, rather than as an addition to the games. And that opened a conversation.”

Here is the synopsis for Uncharted:

“Uncharted introduces audiences to street-smart Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) and showcases his first treasure-hunting adventure with wisecracking partner Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg). Inspired by the acclaimed video game series, this action-adventure epic spans the globe and follows Nate and Sully as they embark on the dangerous pursuit of ‘the greatest treasure never found’ while also tracking clues that may lead to Nate’s long-lost brother.”

Directed by Reuben Fleischer from a script written by Art Marcum & Matt Holloway and Rafe Judkins, Uncharted is being produced by Sony PlayStation Productions, with Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan producing alongside Charles Roven, Avi Arad, Alex Gartner, and Ari Arad.

Uncharted will be released in theaters on February 18th, 2022. Stay tuned for all the latest news on the upcoming film and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content.

Source: Total Film

Trey Griffeth

Trey Griffeth

Lover of video games, comics, and movies! Writer of all things that involve them!