Will ‘The Lost City’ and ‘Uncharted’ spark a revival of Treasure Hunting movies?
Movies featuring bold, fearless treasure-hunting heroes have always been hugely popular, which is why the likes of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft are among the most memorable movie characters in the Hollywood canon. Yet in the last five or six years or so, it seems that original and successful action heroes/heroines have fallen by the wayside. Perhaps this is because the action/adventure genre has produced fewer films in recent years. With this in mind, could a couple of recently released blockbusters lead to a new golden action of treasure hunting?
The Impact of the New Movies
The Lost City was released in March this year, grossing more than $190 million, which is substantially more than the $68 million budget it was made from. With Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum as the main stars who try to find a mysterious lost city, it’s a throwback to the classic 80s formula of buddy comedies with a high-octane, action-packed narrative. Evidently, as the profit indicates, the film smashed it at the box office.
Just a few weeks earlier, Uncharted came out and performed even better than The Lost City, grossing over $400 million. Based on a hugely successful video game series, it features Tom Holland as Nathan Drake, who goes in search of a legendary lost treasure.
In terms of possible new releases in this genre, fans of the National Treasure films featuring Nicholas Cage haven’t yet given up hope that a third instalment will be released eventually. The franchise has been converted into a TV series and producer Jerry Bruckheimer has stated that work on a third movie script has already started.
Another hotly anticipated action film on the cards is set to be released in 2023. This will see Harrison Ford make a fifth and final outing as Indiana Jones, in a movie that doesn’t yet have an official title. Filming started last year but not many details have been revealed so far. Recent reports also suggest the rights for future Tomb Raider films are up for grabs, with a new Lara Croft expected to replace Alicia Vikander.
The Ongoing Popularity of Treasure Hunting
Despite the many cultural and technological changes since the first instalments of critically acclaimed series like Indiana Jones were first released, it’s clear that treasure hunting still gets moviegoers’ pulses racing. The theme has also become popular in different aspects of popular culture beyond just film. After all, the Tomb Raider and Uncharted movies mentioned earlier started as video games, while Indiana Jones has made the journey in the opposite direction by crossing over to appear as a character in several games.
We’ve also seen the idea of trekking through exotic lands to find treasures appear in other aspects of popular culture. For example, the live online betting options in casinos include Gonzo’s Treasure Hunt by Evolution. Set in the steamy jungle, a real-time presenter introduces this game, where players need to try and predict which brick on a wall hides the biggest prize. The same site also features classic casino games like roulette and blackjack, which can also now be played with a live human dealer streamed onto the screen.
Switching to TV shows, Boundless is a Spanish show available on Amazon Prime, showing how Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Elcano carried out the first attempt to circumnavigate the globe while looking for new lands and fabulous treasures. National Geographic takes a different approach to Lost Treasures of Rome, as we see how archaeologists use scientific methods to uncover secrets and find long-lost items.
The number of different approaches used to show us treasure hunting missions helps to explain why this subject has remained so popular for so long. While the classic approach seen in movies in the 1980s and 90s has become less common, the release of a couple of big treasure-hunting adventure films this year suggests that this style may be on the way back.