Buzz surrounding a movie version of Naughty Dogโs Uncharted: Drake’s Fortuneย first sparkedย interestย way back in 2008. However, between finding a writer, director, and someone to actually play famed protagonist Nathan Drake (Mark Wahlberg was the favorite for a while), film production has been shaky, to say the least.
Then fans received a glimpse of hope when it was announced that theย Unchartedย filmย was scheduled to release on June 30, 2017. Writer and director Joe Carnahan (The Grey) wasย attached to the project in July, though regrettably only in a writing capacity. He explains further:
โIn a perfect world I would love to do both, but right now, Iโm only on board to write the script.”
Carnahan’s attachment to the filmย seemed to get the project rolling in the right direction, but despite theย anticipationย that theย Uncharted film has generated, we are met with more unfortunate news.
It would appear that Sony Pictures is not ready for such an early release date after all. On Thursday,ย the company quietly removed Unchartedโs big theater release date from comingsoon.net,ย as though no one would notice.ย Sony has also removed the date from its own upcoming release calendar.
Things do not seem entirely bleak, however. Carnahan has been vocal about how thatย action-packed opening scene of Unchartedย has doneย well in script form. He has also discussedย his enthusiasm andย passion for the series and its strong, historical elements, stating:
“Archaeology today is in itself an antiquity, but that world has always fascinated me. Especially when you go to a museum today and wonder how a piece got there to begin with. Plus, the property itself is so popular that it was hard to turn down an opportunity to work on it.โ
https://twitter.com/carnojoe/status/771544858020327424
Considering the Uncharted games have great,ย cinematic gameplay already, making a movie does not seem like the greatest idea in the realm of game-to-movie adaptations, and many fans have not beenย overly excited about the prospect of a movie either.ย Because the games are so cinematic, however,ย that creates the argument that aย movieย should be simple to make and, therefore, pleasing to every fan. After all, the material isย right thereย just waiting to be translated to the big screen.
While Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune may have been a greatย introduction to Nathan Drake and Co., it is debatably one of the weaker games, story-wise, in the series and could be viewed as a knock-off Indiana Jones in theaters if it isย not handled well. If any of them should be made into a live-actionย film, it isย the fourth and final game, A Thief’s End.ย Though there may be a slight problem with skipping three integral games…
We can only speculateย where production goes from here, but as of right now, things areย not looking that great.
