Here we are again. Another year – another decade, in fact – and another opening in the Uncharted director’s chair. The adaptation of the popular video game series has big names like Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg attached, but it’s been stuck in pure development hell, never being able to keep a director around.
Not to bury the lede, but Venom and Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer is reportedly in line to take over directing duties on the project. But frankly it’s hard to take this news particularly seriously considering how many filmmakers have signed on to direct Uncharted, only to swiftly leave.
Early in its development, David O. Russell, Neil Burger and Seth Gordon were all involved in some capacity, though none of them stuck around long enough to put an indelible mark on the project. Then Shawn Levy was attached to helm the film, before leaving to direct Ryan Reynolds in the comedy Free Guy.
Following that, 10 Cloverfield Lane director Dan Trachtenberg was brought on board. He didn’t last very long before leaving the project for unspecified reasons. Following him was Bumblebee director Travis Knight, who was hired back in late September, but he left the project soon after, citing scheduling reasons. Now Fleischer is reportedly in line to take over.
What’s bizarre is that Uncharted has serious potential to be a big franchise. Forget the video game adaptation aspect for a while; we know those haven’t fared particularly well, historically. But Uncharted will star Holland as treasure hunter Nathan Drake, in a story revolving around his younger days becoming the globe-trotting adventurer.
Art Marcum, Matt Holloway, and Rafe Judkins have penned the script, and the game has consistently been compared to Indiana Jones. With the actual Indiana Jones franchise on its last legs, Uncharted could be the perfect replacement for a new generation. If only they could hire a director that can stick around.
Obviously there’s absolutely no way to know if Fleischer is finally the one to top this nonsense. Sony is probably just hoping that the script is still intact at this point, and that it hasn’t become a cluttered mess after cycling through many directors who probably had their own ideas about it.
The studio was reportedly hoping to shoot Uncharted before the third Spider-Man movie, which begins production this summer. That’s a pretty tight schedule if true, especially for a film that hasn’t been able to get anything done for years. We’ll wait and see if, mercifully, Fleischer sticks around longer than his predecessors.
#Peace.Love.Uncharted
