Director Neil Burger has spoken out for the first time about taking on the movie adaptation of popular video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune .
The director took the reins on the project when David O Russell’s approach to the film was scrapped by the studio. Now, Burger is “basically writing it from scratch”.
“We’re rewriting it,” the Limitless director says, “and I’m just jumping in right now to do it. The deal really has just closed, so it’s very, very new. I’m basically writing it from scratch.
“So, it’s a ways off, but it’s very exciting to have something that could be a franchise. I like it, and I like that it’s a bit different from a lot of the science fiction stuff that’s out there. I like that it’s a classic, great adventure.”
Burger also reveals that he thinks “the game has a really cinematic quality to it”, and that he loves the character of Nate (“I know guys like him”).
Most importantly, the director doesn’t feel intimated by the failure of so many previous video game adaptations. “I just think you have to make the best movie you can,” Burger argues.
“Something like Indiana Jones was updating 1930′s B-movies. In the same way, we’re inspired by the video game, but we have to do what a movie does best.”