Sony Pictures’Unchartedmoviehas been delayed yet again, although this particular release date push isn’ttoosubstantial. The studio announced on Friday night that the video game adaptation—which will starTom Holland—is moving back three months from its original release date of December 2020 to August 13, 2025. That puts it directly oppositeThe Matrix 4, a newJackassmovie, and an untitled event film from Universal Pictures.
The long-developing adaptation will star Tom Holland as a young version of the protagonist Nick Drake, andMark Wahlbergrecently joined the cast as Victor “Sully” Sullivan despite the fact that the filmalsorecently lost its director.Travis Knight, the LAIKA veteran who made his live-action debut withBumblebee,fell off the projectdue to scheduling difficulties.VenomandZombielandhelmerRuben Fleischeris nowreportedlySony’s top choice to direct.
TheUnchartedmovie has had a long, almost cursed development history. The first director attached wasDavid O. Russell(American Hustle) in 2010, with Wahlberg potentially playing Drake. When Russell fell out in 2011,Neil Burger(Limitless) came onboard and set about rewriting the script. Burger left the project in 2012, and then in 2014Seth Gordon(Baywatch) came onboard to direct. The next year Gordon left, and in 2016Joe Carnahan(The Grey) was hired to write the script whileShawn Levy(Night at the Museum) was hired to direct. Then, surprise, Levy left to pursue other projects, andDan Trachtenberg(10 Cloverfield Lane) signed on to take the helm in 2019 after Sony hired Holland to play the lead character.
Trachtenberg left over creative differences in August 2019, with Knight signing on in September 2019. His tenure lasted just a few short months, and while the film has had release dates in the past, Sony is now no doubt eager to fit this into Holland’s busy schedule so I imagine this will finally, actually move forward this year—once they officially sign a director. Holland is due to start filmingUncharteddirectly after theSpider-Man: Far from Homesequel, which starts production this summer.
In other delayed projects news, Sony has also pulledMasters of the Universeoff its schedule. The film was set to be released in March 2021, on the dateUnchartedhas now, but its removal isn’t necessarily a surprise given that the film has no director or script. The latest rumor is the project may be offloaded altogether to a streaming service, but that has yet to be confirmed.
