Theย Unchartedย movie has gone through more rough patches than most movies ever will. But Sony is nothing if not persistent. Less than two weeks after losing director Travis Knight, Sony is reportedly eying his replacement. According to Deadline, that replacement could be Ruben Fleischer.
Negotiations are still ongoing, but Fleischer is apparently at the top of Sony’s list. If he’s brought on, he’ll be the seventh (!) director to join the troubled Unchartedย project. However, his relationship with Sony is extremely positive. Sony distributed his last two films: 2019’sย Zombieland: Double Tap and 2018’s Venom. Whether or not that positivity will transfer to this project, which has been in some form of development for over a decade, is anyone’s guess.
Naughty Dog’sย Uncharted series follows protagonist Nathan Drake, a scrappy treasure hunter constantly foiling the plans of evildoers in exotic locations around the world. The movie will be somewhat of a prequel as Tom Holland will play a younger Drake. Mark Wahlberg will join him as Sully and is, so far, the only other castmember.
Uncharted is one of Sony’s premier franchises. And a film adaptation has been in development for entirely too long. Avi Arad, who is still on as producer, began working with Sony in 2008 to bring the franchise to the big screen. David O. Russell (The Fighter) was the first director to sign on and even planned on casting Wahlberg as Drake. He left in 2011. Neil Burger (Divergent) left in 2012. Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) left the project in 2015. Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) signed on in 2016 and was onboard when Holland was cast. But he dropped out in 2018. Then there was Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane), who left last Summer. And, finally, Travis Knight left late last year, apparently due to Holland’s demandingย Spider-Manย shooting schedule.
Despite the setbacks, Sony refuses to throw in the towel. And, as far as we know, theย Unchartedย movie still holds a release date of December 18th, 2020. Good luck with that.
