New Uncharted director redoing script and cast from scratch

Whether it's movies or games, your franchise usually is usually good for least a couple of installments before someone throws up their hands and yells, %26ldquo;this isn't working, call a reboot!%26rdquo; While that threshold's perpetually lowering, the Uncharted movie has achieved the impressive feat of crossing it before a single frame of film's been shot. Neil Burger, recently-hired director of the inexplicably troubled project (really, how hard is it to make a movie about a guy who shoots people and makes wisecracks?), says he's ripping up David O. Russell's script and writing from scratch before he even thinks of who might play Nathan.

Above: Anyone who steps into Nathan Drake's shoes ought to be able to wield a shotgun without blowing their own face off, at least during takes

Burger is on the promo rounds for his most recent film, theinconceivably ridiculous-soundingLimitless, in which %26ldquo;a writer discovers a top-secret drug which bestows him with [sic] superhuman abilities!%26rdquo; If the history of Uncharted %26ndash; which, again, is a story about a guy who runs around, jumps over things, fights baddies and grabs shiny shit %26ndash; is anything to go by, anyone attempting to write the script could do with just such a contrivance, but Burger reckons he has the character figured. %26ldquo;He's this ballsy guy that lives by his wits, and who's capable of kind of anything and everything. He's fearless and he doesn't give a damn and he'll go after the thing.%26rdquo; Hardly a nuanced reading %26ndash; but in the context of the game-movie genre, any writer who can compose a script in which all the words are written in the same font is already ahead of the game.

Above: The successful thespian will also be required to share screentime with one or more beautiful ladies, preferably without giggling visibly

As for casting %26ndash; and again, not to disparage what should make for a perfectly enjoyable film, but if most of your actors are awake during takes, your videogame-movie is already a winner %26ndash; Burger isn't getting into the %26ldquo;which actor looks best dirty and unshaven%26rdquo; game just yet. He says the script's the first job, then %26ldquo;you see who's available, who seems right, who's a new actor that's just breaking.%26rdquo; Burger's previous scripts have attracted the leading-man talents of Edward Norton, Tim Robbins and Bradley Cooper, so hopes are high that he should be able to put together a story that might lure that elusive actor capable of playing %26ldquo;roguish but likeable%26rdquo; out of the woodwork. What does this news do for your hopes regarding the Uncharted movie?

Jul 26, 2011