Uncharted fans rejoice as David O. Russell abandons big screen adaptation of the game
It seems that, for the time being at least, fans of the Uncharted series can breathe a sigh of relief as the Hollywood director, David O. Russell has abandoned bringing the critically acclaimed game to the big screen.
The former director created quite a stir when it was announced he would be the man in charge of adapting the game into a feature film. He immediately came under heavy fire, not literally, though the chances of it happening increased with every interview,
from fans of the game when he shared his ideas on where he wanted to take the movie.
David O. Russell shocked fans when he declared he had not played the game himself and wanted to base the game on the relationship between Nathan Drake, the game’s quick witted and resourceful protagonist, and his deep voiced mentor, Victor ‘God d**n’ Sullivan.
An additional character was also to be introduced in what was deemed to be a prequel to the games.
Fans of the game did not warm to the idea and for good reason. It seemed the typical Hollywood-taking-a-good-game-and-turning-it-into-rubbish formula. BloodRayne and House of the Dead are two prime examples of where game fans emerged from the cinemas feeling
nauseas after seeing their favourite games utterly ruined.
Only the Resident Evil series seemed to have gone some way in doing the game justice as the studios responsible saw enough potential in the franchise to make four films with a reported fifth film in the works.
While the films were not Oscar worthy, they were a sign that games could make the transition into feature length films and that though they were not perfect, they could add an extra dimension to the franchise.
The director of Resident Evil: Afterlife, the fourth film, Paul W.S. Anderson did an admirable job as he incorporated many elements of the video game into the film, much to the fan’s approval.
Another success story was Hitman, which starred Timothy Olyphant. The game was based in the universe of the cold assassin the world knows as Agent 47 and had many points throughout the film that were almost identical to the game itself.
However, Russell did not seem to want to stick to the plot of the game as much as he continued his assault on the game and the fans, as he reportedly cast Hollywood ‘tough-guy’ Mark Wahlberg as Nathan Drake, instead of fan favourite Nathan Fillion.
Apart from sharing the same first name, Fillion was a perfect fit for the role both personality wise as well as in the looks department.
Add in the fact that Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci were also lined up to play members of Drake’s family and one wonders where exactly the director was trying to take the movie adaption.
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