Tom Holland’s latest film with Sony, Uncharted, was created from his failed pitch for the James Bond franchise, the actor recently revealed. 

Speaking with Total Film, Holland reveals that he came up with an idea to create a film surrounding a young James Bond, an origin story for the character, when he pitched the idea to Sony, they shot him down. “I had a meeting, after or during Spider-Man 2 [Far From Home], with Sony to pitch this idea of a young Bond film that I’d come up with,” Holland said. “It was the origin story of James Bond. 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 were particularly interested.”

Despite this, the pitch did inspire Sony to create another film, and rethink its adaption of the popular video game Uncharted, putting Holland in the starring role. “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. And that opened a conversation,” he said.

The adaptation from Sony began developing back in 2008 with an idea of directors ranging from David O. Russell to Shawn Levy, both of which were attracted to the project over the years. Mark Wahlberg was originally married to play the role of the hero Nathan Drake but switched to the mentor role of Victor Sullivan when Hollan came forward saying he wanted to play a young Drake in what will serve as the origin story for the future installments of the franchise. 

Uncharted directed by Ruben Fleischer will premier in theatres on February 18.