Uncharted star Tom Holland has discussed more about his failed pitch for a James Bond movie. For those who don't know, the star previously pitched a prequel James Bond movie that starred a younger version of the agent, but that project ended up becoming the Uncharted film.
Uncharted is based on the Sony video game series of the same name, but takes its own creative spin on the lore. It's not meant to be a 1 to 1 accurate movie, but it does take scenes and characters from the game. For example, the famous cargo plane air fight scene is straight from the Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception video game despite the protagonist being much older in that game than the Holland version. This movie will hopefully be a great experience for both hardcore and casual fans.
During an interview on Late Night with Seth Myers, Holland went on to discuss his pitch for a James Bond movie, which wasn't a great moment for the actor. "It didn’t work out quite as planned," the actor said. "Essentially, I’m such a big fan of James Bond. I’ve loved Daniel Craig’s movies. And I just thought: If they were to move on it would be really exciting to see how James Bond becomes James Bond." Holland went on to explain exactly what the pitch entailed. "So, I pitched this idea for a movie, which is kind of a stupid idea. Essentially you wouldn’t tell the audience that it was a James Bond movie until the end...but from a marketing point of view, that’s a nightmare. Like that just doesn’t make any sense."
The film was supposed to show how Bond became the infamous spy he is today, which means it would be a prequel starring a younger version (Holland). The idea of not telling the audience that it's a James Bond movie until the end would've been a genius idea. Marketing aside, it would be a nice treat for those who watched the movie without knowing the ending. Once word got out that it's a James Bond film, then fans would swarm the theaters in droves, which means the studio would need to bank on making a profit later rather than early on.
Right now it seems like the box office scene has a mentality of, "if it ain't broke don't fix it," so this idea that Holland had may become something that studios do, but later on in the future. It would be a bold move, and they would need to keep it very secret. Holland's star power could've potentially sold the movie without even labeling it as a James Bond film, but unfortunately fans may never know.
Maybe Holland will get a second chance to play James Bond one day. Remember, superhero films and shared universes weren't seen as a smart decision at one point. After Marvel dominated the box office, many other studios started creating their own version of a shared universe. Fans now have the "Monsterverse", the "Conjuring-verse" and even DC has its own version of a live action shared universe. Only time will tell how this idea holds up.
Uncharted is currently in movie theaters.