This weekend, Sony’s long-awaited Uncharted adaptation finally hits the big screen. The movie treatment of Sony’s wildly popular video game franchise had a lengthy and tumultuous road to production, with the project going through a revolving door of directors and numerous actors attached to star before exiting the project. But Uncharted‘s compass needle finally settled on north when Tom Holland was cast in the role of a reimagined, younger version of Nathan Drake from the games. With fans usually causing an uproar online when a beloved character is changed in even the slightest way from the source material, it’s a testament to how well-liked Holland is that the fervor over Nathan Drake being aged down was relatively subdued.
Tom Holland is one of the hottest working actors in Hollywood, if not the hottest; at one point, it seemed like he was announcing a new project every other week. Though he’s been acting since he was a kid, Holland is only 25 and still at the start of his career, and the limit of both his potential and his career trajectory are sky-high. There are few actors in Hollywood who evoke near-unanimous support from fans across the board, beloved by almost all. Paul Rudd is one, Betty White was another. Already, Holland appears to be that sort of actor, able to bridge gaps across multiple demographics with his self-deprecating charm, his everyman vibe, and his sheer talent.
What’s more, Holland appears to be smarter than other actors who suddenly rocket to fame with multiple franchises and quickly become overexposed. As the current Spider-Man for Marvel, Uncharted, and even Chaos Walking, Holland certainly has more than a few big-budget blockbusters to his name. But Holland has also smartly balanced out his tentpole and franchise work with smaller movies and dramas like Cherry and The Devil All the Time, and peppered his resume with voice work in animated movies. His upcoming projects are more of the same, spread out across genres, mediums, and scope. Here’s every upcoming movie and TV show Tom Holland has in the works once Uncharted hits theaters.
Fred Astaire Biopic
Holland’s theater and dance background are well-documented, with the young actor getting plenty of experience in both from playing the lead in Billy Elliot the Musical on London’s West End. In fact, it was his agility and acrobatic skills that landed him the role of Spider-Man for Marvel, with the actor famously opening his audition tape for the wall-crawler by backflipping into the frame. So it makes perfect sense that he’ll be taking those skills to an upcoming biopic about iconic song-and-dance man Fred Astaire for Sony.
Astaire and his contemporary Gene Kelly were two towering pillars of entertainment through the first half of the 20th century. Both were lauded as the premier male dancers and entertainers in film in their era, each with a completely different style of dance that influenced multiple generations. With his lithe build and dexterity, Holland is the perfect actor to portray the lithe Astaire, who was known for his elegant and light-footed style in contrast with Kelly’s sheer athleticism and power. It’s not yet clear what portion of Astaire’s life the biopic will focus on. It’s also unknown if it will feature Astaire’s frequent dance and movie partner, Ginger Rogers. Whatever the story, it will be fun to see Holland get back to his roots and flex his dance muscles for the first time in years.
The Crowded Room
Not one to tie himself down to the same kind of project, Tom Holland also has a TV show in development with The Crowded Room for Apple TV+, his first TV series since 2015’s Wolf Hall. The 10-episode anthology series will explore the stories of people who struggle and have learned to live with mental illness. Holland is no stranger to tackling darker and more morally murky characters in his non-Marvel roles, and The Crowded Room appears to offer more in that vein. He’s set to play Billy Milligan, a real person who was the subject of a highly-publicized case in the 1970s when he became the first person ever acquired of a major crime because of multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder). With such a complex character with such dark crimes in his past, it’s certain Holland’s ability to portray vulnerability will be necessary in the role. Holland will star in the first season, which is inspired by Daniel Keyes’ biography The Minds of Billy Milligan. He’ll also take on an executive producer role with the series, so he clearly plans to be more involved with The Crowded Room from start to finish than with most projects.
New Sony-Marvel Spider-Man Trilogy
This one isn’t quite as set in stone as the above two projects, but it’s safe to say we’ll get at least a few more movies with Tom Holland as Spider-Man, possibly even a new trilogy. It wasn’t clear what the future would hold for Spider-Man in the MCU or for Tom Holland after Spider-Man: No Way Home. While doing the promotional rounds for the movie, Holland indicated in more than one interview that he wasn’t certain what his status is now that his contract is up and hinted that he might be passing the torch to another webhead. But Sony producer Amy Pascal seemingly laid those fears to rest last November when she said that a new Spider-Man trilogy with Tom Holland is in development and that No Way Home is “not the last” of the MCU Spider-Man movies. She somewhat walked that back a few weeks later when asked about the possibility of a new Spider-Man trilogy, saying only, “If I have my way, we will.” Since then, Holland has also still openly been talking about future hopes for Spider-Man, indicating that we’ll see him again.
At this point, it would be silly for Marvel and Sony to not work out another contract for a new round of movies. Both studios have both benefited hugely from the decision to share the making and distribution of Sony’s Spider-Man movies, a rare instance in Hollywood where both parties get something great out of a deal. For Marvel, they get to use their beloved Spider-Man, the world’s most popular superhero, in their Marvel Cinematic Universe. For Sony, they get the creative oversight and developmental support of the Marvel powerhouse, helping them to right the ship after the shaky Amazing Spider-Man movies and Spider-Man 3. And audiences get the fun of seeing Holland’s Peter Parker interacting with the likes of the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and, in the most recent movie, even with previous big-screen iterations of Spider-Man. As long as Holland is still game to squeeze himself into spandex and hang upside-down from wires, there’s literally no reason for that rumored new Spider-Man trilogy not to be officially confirmed sooner rather than later. And with where No Way Home left things for Peter Parker, with the multiverse torn wide open and Pete now officially being in New York City and on his own, a new trilogy would have any number of fantastic Spider-Man stories to tell.
Beneath A Scarlet Sky
Of all the projects on this list, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the one that may not actually see the light of a screen as there hasn’t been much news about it since it was first announced in 2017. The project, which is being developed specifically for Holland, is based on Mark Sullivan’s novel of the same name, which topped best-seller lists. The delay on the project is likely due to Holland’s packed schedule and will move forward once his calendar clears up; last March, Holland mentioned in an interview that he had actually met Pino Lella, the man on whom the book is based, and that he has been working on developing it with producer Amy Pascal. However, he did caution it was still in the early stages of development. Hopefully, Beneath a Scarlet Sky begins gaining traction soon as it tells an incredible story of a forgotten hero of World War II.
Holland is attached for the lead role of Pino Lella, an Italian teenager living a tranquil life in a lovely Italian village in the early 1940s until word starts circulating about the sinister activities of the German Nazis. Eager to help while waiting to enlist, Lella joins an underground railroad helping Jews to escape by secret passages through the Alps. On his 18th birthday, however, Pino is forced to enlist in the German Army, and immediately becomes the personal driver for General Hans Leyers, Adolf Hitler’s right-hand man. Due to his position close to both Leyers and the Fuhrer, and his sympathies for the Jewish people, Pino is recruited by the Allies to be a spy. Known only to the intelligence units of the Allied Forces as “The Observer,” Pino Lella is forced to witness the atrocities planned and committed by the high-ranking Nazi officials around him, all while feeding the Allies crucial information that helped shape the course of WWII and turned the tide against the Axis powers. Along the way, he’s bolstered in his lowest moments by his love for Anna, the young woman he hopes he’ll one day share a peaceful life with.
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Uncharted is in theaters Friday, February 18th. Get tickets now.
