December 14, 2010 by Paul Curtin
If you haven’t already heard, last week more news came out regarding a possible movie based on the Uncharted series that is currently in the works. Since then countless fans of the beloved series have taken to the internet to vent their discontent with director David S. Russell’s ideas on a potential plot and casting.
One of the main factors attributed to the skepticism among fans is the fact that the Uncharted game series is already better than most big budget movies in recent years, thus making there no need for Hollywood to come and ruin what is already working perfectly fine. Another factor that’s contributing to the all the hate is the plot that seems to share little in common with Uncharted besides the name. Here are some quotes from director David S. Russell’s L.A. Times interview for anyone who has yet to hear:
While the video game centers on Nate Drake (a descendant of Sir Francis Drake) and his quest to find lost treasure on an island far from civilization, Russell plans on expanding the movie to include Drake’s extended family — and put them in fraught, globetrotting situations with some of the world’s most influential people.
“This idea really turns me on that there’s a family that’s a force to be reckoned with in the world of international art and antiquities … [a family] that deals with heads of state and heads of museums and metes out justice,” he said.
“We’ll have the family dynamic, which we’ve done in a couple of movies now,” he said. “And then you take that and put it on the bigger, more muscular stage of an international action picture, but also put all the character stuff in it. That’s a really cool idea to me.”
And the final complaint would be the casting of Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Mark Wahlberg as Nathan Drake. While Wahlberg is a pretty good actor, his name comes with the stigma of the Max Payne movie, which most would agree was a terrible video game to movie adaptation, and a terrible movie by itself.
But with director David S. Russell and actor Mark Wahlberg’s latest movie The Fighter being called one of the best films of the year and receiving very strong reviews (currently 89% on Rotten Tomatoes), could it be enough to win over fans and prove that Russell and Wahlberg may be up to task of finally bringing a true video game adaptation to the big screen?
Personally, I think the Uncharted series is perfect where it is right now and I’m more excited for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception than any other video game or movie release. I don’t think there’s any need for an Uncharted movie at the moment. What do you think? Is now the right time for an Uncharted movie?
