David O. Russell Departs Uncharted Project

After months of criticism for his vision of adapting the Uncharted video game to the big screen acclaimed director David O. Russell has left the project. He had been signed on to both write and direct. Sony/Columbia is now looking for a replacement.

Russell agitated fans of the PlayStation series with his idea of concentrating on a family dynamic: “This idea really turns me on that there’s a family that’s a force to be reckoned with in the world of international art and antiquities … [a family] that deals with heads of state and heads of museums and metes out justice”. Basically he was describing something that sounded a lot like National Treasure but with Mark Wahlberg, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci.

Hopefully this results in a film that is more true to the game rather than what Russell wanted which seemed more to just be borrowing the title and applying it his adventure film. It could also reignite calls from fans for Nathan Fillion to be cast in the lead role as Nathan Drake.