The Uncharted movie treasure could easily be some fictional booty that the production has invented to sound impressive, but looking back at all of the games it’s more than likely going to be a real world horde that gets fictionalized a little to give the film more impact and interest. That’s been the case for every Uncharted game going right the way back to Drake’s Fortune in 2007, which saw Nathan and Sully hunting for the lost treasure of El Dorado, so we’re going to look at what it might be for the movie.
There’s not that much to go on in the story synopsis except for the point about it being the “greatest treasure never found”, but it’s definitely a start, which should give us at least a few options for the movie. However, there are also a few clues in the teaser and trailer for the film, so we’re going to break them down for you in more detail to help narrow the field a little.
AdvertisementThe film will be releasing on the 11th February 2022, so there isn’t much time until it arrives and we get to find out more about the treasure, as long as Tom Holland can manage to make it through the last couple of weeks without giving the game away. We’ll add in more detail as it’s confirmed so that you can compare the movie with the real life lost wonder, just in case you’re looking to head out on your own adventure to find it.
What is the greatest treasure never found?
There are a few contenders for the greatest treasure never found reference in the trailer, so here’s the rundown of the main contenders and we’ll follow it up with more clues from the trailers. However, everything that we’ve seen so far hints at the treasure being lost at sea or on a desert island, so we’ll focus our efforts there, as opposed to any lost land-based hordes.
AdvertisementFirstly, there’s the Santa Maria, which Christopher Columbus lost close to Haiti after “discovering” the Americas in 1492. It has since never been found, despite the area being well explored. Chris had set off in search of gold to line the pockets of the Spanish court, so there may well be a little treasure aboard, despite the fact that it was partially dismantled at the time to make Fort Navidad. The find in itself would be valuable for anyone able to locate the historically significant ship’s hull.
Next we have the Flor de la Mar, a Portuguese ship that went down in a storm off the coast of modern day Sumatra, Indonesia, in 1511. It was on the return leg of a lucrative conquest, so it is reputed to be crammed to the rafters with treasure stolen from the Sultan of Malacca.
AdvertisementAnother option is the Merchant Royal, a British ship that sank off the coast of Cornwall in 1641. In addition to the vast amount of gold and silver it was carrying already, it took on extra cargo to help another ship in distress. This made it heavy and when the weather turned nasty it was only a matter of time before it was lost to the sea.
Finally, there’s Magellan’s Santiago, which was lost in a storm off the coast of what is now Brazil as part of an effort to find a route through to the Pacific Ocean. It was part of a fleet of ships that Magellan led from Spain. Another of the ships deserted Magellan and went back to Spain before they made it through the Straight and all of this came after a vicious mutiny.
The remaining three ships then made it through, but had to face the might of the Pacific, which took nearly four months to sail across. As a result, food supplies ran low and a lot of the crew died on the journey, but they did eventually make it.
However, the dark days continued as Magellan was eventually killed in a bid to convert the islanders of Mactan to Christianity by force. The remaining crew members scarpered in acrimony, but when they eventually set out for Spain only one of the ships was seaworthy, so the other two were left behind.
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More Uncharted movie teaser and trailer clues
Firstly, the villain of the film, played by Antonio Banderas, seems to have a family link to the treasure, which would imply an Spanish origin to it. There’s also the references to religion with the crosses needed to open locks, and the locations in the trailer look much more like some hidden Pacific island than they do the south coast of Cornwall, so we’re going to say it’s probably not the Merchant Royal.
The biggest Uncharted movie treasure clue, though, is all of the talk of Magellan, which adds wight to it being related to that journey somehow. If that isn’t enough, we also see three ships being hoisted off in the trailer, which points to it being a fleet of some kind, so that starts to discount the Santa Maria and Flor de la Mar.
AdvertisementThat points to Magellan’s fleet, but the problem with this is that the numbers just don’t quite add up to the three we see in the trailer. Five ships set out from Spain, one turned back to Spain before making it through the straight to the Pacific, one went down off the coast of South America, another two were left in the Philippines and one made it back home to complete the circumnavigation of the globe.
While that does give us three ships that went missing, one of them was lost half the world away from the other two, so there’s no way that they can be all together like they are in the movie. However, it’s important to look at the stories from the games where there is always a fair amount of artistic license taken with the historical accuracy of the treasure Nathan and Sully go after.
When you look at everything, Magellan’s fleet is the best fit overall, but that’s only if the ultimate treasure is the one found on the three ships. The only thing in the trailer to point elsewhere is the map of Africa with a marker over modern-day Uganda, so maybe the story starts with a focus on the fleet’s riches, before continuing with the hunt for Nathan’s brother, which leads to Africa.
As we mentioned earlier, we’ll update things here as we get more details on the Uncharted movie treasure. You can also check out our movie news section to see other film releases in 2021, or visit the official Uncharted website at https://www.unchartedthegame.com/.
