Tom Holland Once Pitched a Young James Bond Origin Film to Sony, and the Rejection Led Directly to ‘Uncharted’
Long before Tom Holland became one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, he was a young actor with a very ambitious dream and a meeting at Sony to go with it. The British actor, who had already captured the world’s attention as Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, had quietly set his sights on another beloved British icon, one with a license to kill and a very different set of gadgets.
Around the time he was filming ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’, Holland arranged a meeting with Sony to pitch an idea he had been developing, a film built around a young James Bond just beginning his life as a secret agent. It was an untapped corner of the 007 mythology, the kind of origin story that had never made it to the big screen, and Holland believed he had found a fresh angle worth pursuing.
The pitch, however, did not exactly land with the franchise’s gatekeepers. Holland revealed the full story in an interview with Total Film magazine ahead of the release of ‘Uncharted’, explaining that while he brought his idea to Sony, the Bond estate was ultimately unmoved. “It was the origin story of James Bond,” Holland said, speaking to Variety. “It didn’t really make sense. It didn’t work. It was the dream of a young kid, and I don’t think the Bond estate was particularly interested.”
What makes the story genuinely fascinating is what happened next. Rather than walking away from the Sony meeting empty-handed, Holland found that the creative thinking behind his 007 pitch quietly redirected him toward a different young adventurer entirely. “The idea of a young Bond film sparked this idea, in turn, that you could do a Nathan Drake story as an origin story, rather than as an addition to the games,” Holland explained. That creative pivot opened a conversation, and the rest eventually became ‘Uncharted’.
‘Uncharted’, directed by Ruben Fleischer, went on to gross over $407 million worldwide, though it received a chilly critical reception, sitting at a 41% score on Rotten Tomatoes while earning a considerably warmer 89% audience score. The film has since enjoyed a remarkable streaming afterlife, climbing the charts on both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and becoming one of the highest-grossing video game movie adaptations of all time.
The irony is not lost on anyone watching the current Bond conversation unfold. As Amazon MGM prepares to reboot the franchise under director Denis Villeneuve, insiders have confirmed the studio is interested in casting a British actor under the age of 30, with Holland himself among the names at the top of the list. Holland has acknowledged the swirling speculation, calling the Bond role “the pinnacle of working in our industry” for any young British actor, though he has also hinted at a busy schedule that could complicate any near-term commitment.
Amazon MGM confirmed that the official talent search for the next 007 is now underway, though no actor has been signed and serious casting decisions are expected to follow once the screenplay and creative direction are fully locked. The Bond that got away from Holland years ago may be circling back, and the story of how a rejected pitch about a young spy accidentally gave birth to a $400 million treasure-hunting franchise is one of the more delightfully strange footnotes in recent Hollywood history. Do you think Tom Holland deserves a second shot at 007 after all these years, or has his moment with the franchise officially passed?
