The idea of a David O. Russell adaptation of the action-adventure video game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune has been in the back of our minds all summer. Columbia Pictures has made it official, hiring Russell to write and direct the film, which tracks the journey of Nathan Drake: Treasure Hunter. I've never played, but Matt is a fan of the game, and does a great job of breaking down the pros and cons of Russell's style and the cinematic suitability of the game in the initial post.
Russell's boxing movie The Fighter is in the can, which hits theaters on December 10th with Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, and Amy Adams headlining. The writer/director has Old St. Louis with Vince Vaughn and Chloe Moretz on the horizon, which recently pulled him away from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Hit the jump for the official Uncharted announcement.
DAVID O. RUSSELL TO WRITE AND DIRECT “UNCHARTED: DRAKE’S FORTUNE”
CULVER CITY, Calif., October 8, 2010 – David O. Russell (Three Kings, The Fighter) has been set to write and direct Columbia Pictures’ Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, an action-adventure based upon the bestselling PlayStation 3 game, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures. The film will be produced by Avi Arad, Charles Roven, Ari Arad, and Alex Gartner.
The story follows the adventures of treasure hunter Nathan Drake.
Commenting on the announcement, Tolmach said, “David is a tremendous choice to take on this film. He’s equally adept at combining all the classic elements involved in this property: great character development, strong comedy, and amazing action sequences. He has a brilliant vision for this material and we know he will bring his original, unique voice to this adaptation.”
The game, developed by the acclaimed team at Naughty Dog, was one of Sony Computer Entertainment’s best-selling and most critically acclaimed games for the PS3. Named IGN’s Best Action Game and Best PS3 Game, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune sold one million copies in the first 10 weeks of its release at the end of 2007 on its way to moving more than 2.6 (confirm) million copies and spawning a sequel. That sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, was a major commercial and critical success, winning Game of the Year honors from several influential critics, being named the most critically acclaimed game of the year by Metacritic, and selling more than 3.8 million copies worldwide. Both games are among the all-time best-selling games for the platform.
The project will be overseen at Columbia Pictures by Tolmach and Jonathan Kadin.