I've Been Replaying The Video Games, And I Need To Know What's Going On With Uncharted 2

A few weeks ago, I started playing the Uncharted series for the first time in nearly a decade, and no surprise, they’re still some of the best video games ever made. But as I’ve been crossing the globe with Nathan Drake on his various adventures, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the Uncharted 2 movie, the long-overdue sequel to what some consider the best video game adaptation so far.

Seriously, the Tom Holland movie made a ton of cash at the box office during its 2022 theatrical run, had a decent critical response (we gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars in our review), and was more fun than it had to be. But here we are three years later with no next adventure, no new treasure to find, and none of those beloved characters from the games showing up on the big screen. What gives?

The First Uncharted Movie Was A Big Hit, And We Should Have Had A Sequel By Now

It wasn’t just video game fans like myself who flocked to theaters in February 2022 to see Uncharted, as the adaptation had an impressive opening weekend with $44 million domestically. And that train just kept going before it ended with a total of $407 million worldwide by the time everything was said and done, according to Box Office Mojo. With numbers like that, you would have thought Sony would be champing at the bit to get a sequel on the way.

And I totally thought that would be the case. However, three years later, Uncharted isn’t on the list of upcoming video game movies, and fans of the games (and the film adaptation) are left wondering if the movie is going to be in development hell for years to come, much like the first film was all those years ago.

I Mean, The Uncharted End-Credits Sequence Perfectly Set Up A Franchise

Uncharted was one of the best action movies of 2022 and had a great ending that perfectly set up a potential franchise. And no, I wasn’t all excited just because Mark Wahlberg’s Victor “Sully” Sullivan had the character’s iconic mustache -- more because it ended in a way that was similar to something pulled directly from the games. After Victor saves Tom Holland’s Nathan Drake in the hilarious end-credits sequence and they get ahold of the Nazi map, we’re left with a massive cliffhanger where we’re not sure who caught the duo.

Was it a new threat, someone from the games, or maybe Sam Drake, Nathan’s long-lost brother from the beginning of the movie? I mean, either option is great. And based on what Uncharted director Ruben Fleischer told CinemaBlend ahead of the film’s release, the character, first introduced in 2016’s Uncharted: A Thief’s End, will be showing up at some point. Exactly when is anybody’s guess.

But It's Not All Bad News, As I Just Found Out Sony Started Developing A Sequel In 2024

Though nothing has been said about a possible Uncharted 2 release date, I have discovered that Sony Pictures is at least actively developing the project. In June 2024, Variety reported that the studio revealed at the CineEurope trade show that the video game adaptation was one of the projects in the works. No additional information was provided at the time, but it was the first major development since Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman called Uncharted “a new movie franchise for the company” in February 2022, per Deadline.

In December 2024, legendary producer Charles Roven told Deadline that a script was in the works, but again, nothing substantial was revealed about it. We still don’t know if the first film’s screenwriters – Rafe Judkins, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway – are working on the screenplay or if Sony is bringing in someone new, but we’ll have to wait and see.

But It Sounds Like Tom Holland's Spider-Man And Christopher Nolan Movies Come First

Though Tom Holland took a break from acting following the crazy one-two punch that was Spider-Man: No Way Home and Uncharted, the actor is back at it again. In the same interview with Deadline where Charles Roven talked about the Uncharted 2 script, he also made it sound like they’re in a bit of a holding pattern until Holland completes his work in Destin Daniel Cretton’s Spider-Man 4 and Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey adaptation, which are both slated to open in July 2026.

With both of those projects having the potential to be the biggest box office draws of 2026 (a year that is filled with so many potentially great movies), it makes sense why Sony is kind of playing it slow and easy with Uncharted. But I bet we’ll start to hear more about potential release dates, shooting schedules, and other details in the coming months and years.

There Are So Many Action Set Pieces I Would Love To See Recreated On The Big Screen

There were so many callbacks and references in the Uncharted movie, but there is so much more from the four main games (I never played the PS Vita spinoffs) that I think would make for some truly iconic moments on the big screen. From the train sequence that opens Uncharted 2: Among Thieves that totally wasn’t referenced in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning to the sinking boat in Uncharted 3 Drake’s Deception to the Madagascar street chase in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, there’s a seemingly endless list of possibilities.

If You Haven't, Go Back And Play These Games

Though replaying the Uncharted games has me kind of bummed out that we’re having to wait so long for the next movie in the franchise, I cannot stress enough how much fun I’m having playing these iconic Naughty Dog games. Though the first game in the series hasn’t aged all that well, the three subsequent mainline games and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy are absolutely incredible.

And it’s not just because of the great action set pieces. The platforming sections, the various puzzles, and the character arcs (like the one shared by Nathan Drake and Elana Fisher) all make these not only great adventure games but incredible cinematic experiences that push the medium (and video game consoles) to their limits.

All in all, I’m going to be very excited when the Uncharted 2 movie comes out and will be there once again on opening weekend. And who knows, maybe I’ll have to play through the whole series again when that day comes.