Nathan Drake, the globe-trotting hero of the Uncharted series, may soon find himself trotting onto the big screen. A movie based on the popular Playstation series has apparently been on the back burner for some time as the producers founds themselves juggling directorial roles. David Russell, Seth Gordon, and to a lesser extent, Joe Carnahan (he’s doing the screenwriting) all had the opportunity to fill those shoes, but ended up leaving. Now, Shawn Levy has taken over as director and the Uncharted movie is finally moving forward.
While Naughty Dog produced the Uncharted video game series, the movie, under Sony Pictures, will be produced by Arad and Atlas Entertainment. The actor playing the esteemed role of Nathan Drake has not been revealed, nor has a release date for the film. An initial expected release of June 2017 was scrapped when the studio found itself without a director or even a star. Game and movie fans will have to fill themselves on the Assassin’s Creed movie for the time being.
Video game-based movies have a long tradition of dubious audience reception. Stunts and effects that look brilliant on-platform become cheesy and shallow in Hollywood, meanwhile the question of how closely to follow the game’s plot versus how much creative freedom ought to be allowed directly affects how well fans will connect with the events playing out before them. Action movies and games, such as Uncharted, should theoretically have less to worry about, the key factor being the skill of the actors in bringing it all together.
Naughty Dog released the main Uncharted games in 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2016. Other iterations include two Vita titles, a mobile game, and even a board game. The first three main games have also been remastered in the Nathan Drake Collection for PS4.
