It may not fully come to bear until 2016 or even 2017, but this year is the start of a new trend for video game movies. With the arrival of Hitman: Agent 47, movie audiences will soon be treated to video game movies that don’t try to repurpose the subject material, but instead attempt to preserve their appealing qualities. Think of it like the modern comic book film approach, only this time applied to video games.
However, with so many video game films in various stages of development - like Assassin's Creed - it’s hard to keep track of them all. For example, we know an Uncharted film is in the works, but said adaptation has been languishing in development for quite a while now.
The assumption is that the Uncharted movie is currently trying to find the best tone and approach before moving forward with finding a leading man to play Nathan Drake. After all, if the movie isn’t worth the effort, there’s no point in casting such an important role.
On the story front, the Uncharted movie appears to be making headway, but the project is currently undergoing some rewrites. Prior to those revisions, however, the film was apparently trying to capture a tone similar to the National Treasure films with action that resembles more Jason Bourne than Indiana Jones.
Word of the Uncharted film’s approach comes courtesy of last year’s Sony leak, which unveiled thousands of e-mails about upcoming studio projects. At the time most of the focus was on Hollywood gossip, but now that the full leaked documents have appeared online, many have begun digging for even more secrets. Gamespot, for example, happened upon a few details about the Uncharted movie, specifically how the studio hopes to position the movie.
Granted, many of these leaked film details may have changed, but as it stands it sounds like National Treasure is the best analogue for the upcoming Uncharted movie. The e-mails make mention that Uncharted will play up Nathan Drake and Elena’s romance more and that it will be “less goofy,” so fans concerned about that descriptor can breathe a little easier.
There’s also talk of deploying a more Jason Bourne approach to the action; that is, using less green screen and more practical effects. It’s odd that the e-mails specifically mention avoiding Indiana Jones-style filmmaking, though, since Nathan Drake is pretty much the video game equivalent of the character.
As far as the rest of the e-mail details, it’s a lot of studio buzzword hype and nothing worth placing any stock into. Of course, Sony wants to make Uncharted a “really fun summer adventure film,” but that doesn’t mean that’s what they will deliver.
Truly, the most interesting detail is the National Treasure comparison, if only because that Disney-distributed film was far tamer than the Uncharted series. Sure, there are parallels in terms of the globetrotting, treasure-seeking adventure aspect, but Nathan Drake is also a fighter. In fact, and some even criticize the games for this, Drake is known for killing dozens of nameless thugs. But, based on these e-mails, it sounds like the Uncharted movie might not go down that road.
As we mentioned, a lot can still change with the Uncharted movie, so even these details may no longer be part of the adaptation. However, that should be enough for fans to chew on for the time being, and decide how they feel about the Uncharted movie moving forward.
Are you interested in an Uncharted movie that resembles National Treasure? What do you think of Sony’s approach?
Source: Gamespot