DAVID O. RUSSELL LOSES THE MAP TO DRAKE’S FORTUNE

The casting of Wahlberg never sat well with me at all. But what I liked about Russell's take is that he seemed to be doing something original with the property. I'm a big fan of the games, but I don't really see the value in straight adaptations, since they're practically movies already.

 

The best approach to an Uncharted movie is to take those characters and create a new, stand alone adventure that could also be either a prequel or sequel to the games. And I think that's what Russell was attempting.

 

Though, I suppose adapting the games straight up is really no different than adapting a graphic novel or book. It's a different medium for storytelling. So I can see that working too, if they get it right. I just think something original would be better in this particular case.

 

In any case, I think my "casting" of Bradley Cooper as Drake, Amy Adams as Elena and James Caan as Sully is pretty damn perfect. So I hope someone of importance reads these boards.

As with Aronofsky and Wolverine this was a kind of bizarre idea in the first place so I find it hard to see it as too much of a tragedy. Hopefully this doesn't mean another half decade in the wilderness for Russel though.

I can't really get excited over the idea of an Uncharted film. The game works well as a game, but its something we've seen on film a billion times already. Enough with Nathan Fillion stuff though; I have a feeling the same people yerning for him to star are the same dumbasses that wanted Brock Lesner to play Eddie Brock. Looks alone don't equal good casting.

Well, in Fillion's case it wasn't his looks alone.  Drake's personality (in the game) seemed to suit Fillion's usual persona.  Either way, no big loss here, I agree.  Nobody needed an Uncharted movie. 

Yeah, I understood why people wanted Fillion.  It's the looks and personality, and he's an actor who seems overdue for a leap into proper movies. Why not give him something like Drake's Fortune? 

 

But I agree with Russell doing something *new* with it -- giving it a few tweaks and not doing a straight-up adaptation -- though there ARE people who haven't played the games that might eat it up, like they do comic book movies -- although I thought his combination of actors shoved it into weird Scorsese territory. But it might have been fun. 

 

Russell has a ton of projects lined up, I believe. There's even a graphic novel adaptation in there somewhere -- 2 Guns, I think?

A straight up game to film transfer Uncharted will end up being viewed as a second rate Indiana Jones. But I don't agree with changing it to the point of not being recognizable either.

 

So a relegation to development hell and cancellation is probably the way to go.

Weird, other than I pegged Elizabeth Banks as Elena, I also saw Cooper and Caan as Drake and Sully since day 1.
 

 

I just cannot give a shit about any of this. What value is there to the UNCHARTED series as it relates to the world of film, other than the name? Why are supposedly intelligent online writers getting so het up about director/casting? The game offers bare-bones character types and a few high concepts/locations. You might as well just write an adventure film from scratch. Or put the money into NATIONAL TREASURE 3: NOT THE BEES!

My "Uncharted" fan-casting:

 

Jensen Ackles as Nathan Drake

 

Bruce Campbell as Victor "Sully" Sullivan

 

Kristen Bell as Elena Fisher

Edited by Barry Woodward - 5/28/11 at 8:47pm

Ackles strikes me as too young (I don't mean in age just in attitude and appearance). But Bruce Campbell is an inspired choice.

 

 

Glad you agree... it's easy to see Cooper playing Drake because of that smart-ass charm that he brings to his roles. And the design of Sully bears a rather striking resemblance to James Caan, doesn't it?

 

......

 

Addressing those who have a very "what's the point?" attitude towards this - I've been giving it some thought. Video Games get a bad rap when turned into movies but I maintain that this is mainly because they have never been approached very seriously or have been second-guessed too much. While it's true that you could say that many games (Uncharted among them) have rather hackneyed, clichéd and derivative plots, the same is true of many airport books that are turned into successful movies.

 

One of history's great successes in fact, Jaws, is inspired by a terrible book with an awful plot. But it still made for a great movie.

 

While I agree that the real joy of Uncharted comes from playing and enjoying it as an interactive cinematic experience, I don't think that its story wouldn't translate into an entertaining action film. Perhaps nothing ground-breaking but certainly a watchable popcorn movie. When I say I found both Uncharted games to be more satisfying experiences than the last Indiana Jones movie, I mean it. And I say that having liked the last Indiana Jones movie.

In this thread we've done the studio exec's job. Have Nathan Fillion as Drake and Bruce Campbell as Sully. Considering those two have been fantasy casted in 100's of projects, the suits know that a large portion of the geeks will show up. Done!

I don't understand why a thousand game-playing Browncoats have latched on to this property in the vain attempt to kick Fillion's career into overdrive. Drake is a bland character who makes the occasional sarcastic quip. Pretty much any relatively young Caucasian actor in Hollywood could play him.

 

And, really, how is this movie not going to be Tomb Raider minus the faux British titties?