'Uncharted' Adds Antonio Banderas As Ruben Fleischer Confirmed To Direct

Uncharted may be finally be getting back on the map. Fresh off his first Oscar nomination, Antonio Banderas has joined the Uncharted cast to star opposite the long-attached Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg. And in the wake of Banderas' casting alongside two other cast newcomers, Sony has locked down Venom director Ruben Fleischer to helm the film after going through seven other filmmakers.Variety reports that Antonio Banderas has been cast in Uncharted in an unknown role, joining the already cast Tom Holland, who will star the video game adaptation as a young version of adventurer Nathan Drake — if he doesn't age out of the role. Uncharted has been long plagued by delays and director exits, with seven (!) filmmakers leaving the project since Sony began developing an adaptation of the video game franchise nearly a decade ago. But it seems like Uncharted could finally get back on the map, with Sony locking down Fleischer, who had been in talks early this year, to direct the adventure film.

Banderas' boarding of Uncharted also comes with two new pieces of casting, including Sophia Ali and The 100 actor Tati Gabrielle. All of these pieces of news point to one thing: Uncharted may actually, finally come together. While it's not confirmed who Banderas is playing yet, he will likely play the villain because there's nothing more that Hollywood loves than a baddie with an accent, especially in an old-fashioned adventure story like Uncharted. It's a bit of a disappointing step down for Banderas, who scored his first-ever Oscar nomination in a stirring, career-best performance in Pedro Almodovar's Pain and Glory, but the Spanish actor is no stranger to being typecast in Hollywood blockbusters.

Wahlberg, who was originally tapped to play Holland's lead adventurer when the movie first went into development back in 2011, also stars in Uncharted as Victor "Sully" Sullivan, a mentor to Nathan Drake.

The most recent draft of Uncharted was written by Rafe Judkins and the Iron Man writing team of Art Marcum & Matt Holloway. Charles Roven and Alex Gartner are producing for Atlas Entertainment while Avi Arad is production for his own production banner.

The Uncharted movie release date has been slated for March 5, 2021.