Since the first game in the Uncharted series (titled Drake’s Fortune) was released to widespread acclaim in 2007, and gained an instant cult following, there’s been talk of creating some sort of movie adaptation; something that’s already been passed through the rumour mill several times, but is now officially moving forward.
David O Russell (Three Kings) was rumoured to be attached to the picture back in May, but then walked away from the negotiating table in August after failing to reach a deal with Sony; who have now confirmed that Russell has returned to the film, and is officially locked in to direct to large-scale adventure movie that promises a good deal of action an intrigue.
The Uncharted games are basically another adaptation of the Indiana Jones/Tomb Raider formula; that places an archeologist-type hero in exotic locations, and pits them in a race against time (and a crew of armed henchmen) to find an ancient artifact, or some buried treasure, that often has some form of supernatural curse attached to its great wealth; but captivated audiences with it’s blend of cinematic scenes, luscious locales (the likes of which aren’t really since in Indy’s world, or Lara’s tombs), and masses of guns.
Details of the film’s script haven’t yet been revealed (possibly as the original was written by Cowboys and Aliens scribes Thomas Dean Donnelly, and Joshua Oppenheimer, and is currently due for a David O Russell re-write), although it’s clear that the first games story would provide more than an interesting franchise starter; as it focussed on the efforts of Nathan Drake (a direct descendant of the famous explorer Sir Francis Drake), who used clues from his lineage to find his way to the legendary El Dorado (Lost City of Gold), and encountered his fair share of adventure, betrayal, intrigue, mystery, and romance, along the way.
But no matter what potential lies in the undeveloped script, it doesn’t look as if it will be Russell’s next project; as the Michael Clayton director (who’s currently getting a fair amount of Oscar buzz surrounding his upcoming boxing movie The Fighter) has also signed on to direct the Spirit of St. Louis, which has already been mostly cast (with Dodgeball’s Vince Vaughn leading the troupe that may also include The Avengers star Scarlett Johansson), and will undoubtedly hit screens before Drake’s Fortune.
Nevertheless, Drake’s Fortune is still one that the games fans are willing to wait for, and clearly has the potential to reach a much wider audience than other adaptations (such as Resident Evil for instance); as even the most modern movies with this type of formula (clue following treasure hunters such as those featured in the National Treasure franchise) tend to fare pretty well at the Box Office; especially seen as Drake’s has a higher level of personal interaction than Tomb Raider, a more involved story, and much more action.
