We’re going to have to wait a little longer to see this adaptation of the famous video game shot partly in Comunidad.
Sony Pictures, producer of Uncharted, one of the biggest blockbusters to hit the screens in recent years, has again postponed its premiere, this time for February 2022. This film, partly filmed in the coastal town of Jávea, was probably the biggest production ever to visit La Comunidad Valenciana, so fans in Spain and the world will still have to wait a while to see it.
It’s a film adaptation of the famous video game of the same name, released by Sony. It follows the adventures of a young fortune hunter, Nathan Drake, who claims to be a descendant of the famous English explorer, Sir Francis Drake. He travels around the world to discover various historical mysteries, and the sets of his adventures are very similar to those seen in movies such as Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. This popular game was first released in 2007, had different versions and has sold over 41 million copies so far, becoming one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.
The studio started to play with the idea of making a film as early as 2008, but the first script was written only in 2015. It was great news for the movie industry at the time, but it took another five years to start filming. The first scenes were finally shot on 16 March 2020 around Berlin, days before the Covid-19 pandemic started. Obviously, not much was completed before production stopped and filming was resumed by mid-July only, with proper social distancing, masks and other safety requirements being implemented on and off the grid. That didn’t remove all risk, however, with some actors still becoming infected, including Antonio Banderas. In October 2020, production moved to Jávea in La Comunidad Valenciana in complete secrecy, but the Instagram photos leaked by the main star Tom Holland, who plays Nathan Drake, alerted the public to the fact that the film set had moved to Spain.
The film was mostly shot on the beaches of Jávea. To this end, the area near the Canal de la Fontana on Arenal beach was transformed into an oasis to host the filming of some of the sequences, which continued later in Cova dels Orguens and Cala Granadella.
The film was directed by Ruben Fleischer, known for Zombieland and the principal star is young Tom Holland, an official Spiderman since 2017. This young British actor rose to stardom for playing Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films Captain America: Civil War (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Two other prominent actors will be also starring in the movie – Mark Wahlberg and famous Spanish actor Antonio Banderas.
The premiere was originally scheduled for March 2021, then July, October, and now, finally, 11 February, 2022. So far, it’s the biggest Sony project since the beginning of the pandemic, and expectations are high. It’s also, most likely, the biggest film ever made in La Comunidad Valenciana.
© 2021: Into Uncharted Territory in Javea – TheValencian