David O. Russell Wants Scarlett Johansson For ‘Uncharted’ Movie

It seems most everybody wants Scarlett Johansson (keep reading…) to star in their next film, and David O. Russell is no exception. The Fighter filmmaker is in the midst of developing his Uncharted adaptation and has mentioned the blonde bombshell as being on his wish list to star.

Fans of the original PS3 title Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune have been vocal about their displeasure concerning Russell’s decision to cast Mark Wahlberg or deviate significantly from the game’s plot by adding a family dynamic. Bringing Miss Johansson onboard, however, is one move that’s unlikely to upset them too much.

Uncharted protagonist and treasure-plunderer Nathan Drake (Wahlberg) is accompanied on his adventures by the reporter/journalist Elena Fisher – the role Johansson would play. Miss Fisher is not only a match for Drake in terms of spirit and sheer gusto, but she is also (unrealistically?) capable in combat – and, of course, easy on the eyes. After watching Johansson disassemble a team of security guards with naught but her hands (and thighs) in Iron Man 2, one would be hard pressed to argue that she can’t handle a part like that.

Russell mentioned the Lost in Translation star as someone he’d like to see play Elena while chatting with Empire, and also cited his Fighter actress Amy Adams as another potential candidate – if he gets his way. On the topic of the Uncharted female lead, the offbeat auteur had this to mention as well:

“Ah, Elena. I’ve cultivated her quite a bit and I think I’ve added a lot of dimension to her so that’s all I’m going to say. I love the woman characters and the more robust they are, the more robust the movie … there’s [sic] a lot of greater [actresses] I think might suit. Hopefully, we’ll see how it works out with everybody who are being scoped to do that role…”

Could Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams reunite for 'Uncharted'?

Johansson is currently busy filming Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo and has The Avengers to tackle soon thereafter, so her immediate availability is limited. The actress has long been rumored as a possibility to star in Lionsgate’s Regency-era splatterfest, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and may still be “loosely attached” to appear in another romance/undead mashup, Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament as well. So the chances that Russell will get her onboard for Uncharted are rather slim right now.

Someone like Adams would also be quite fun to watch play a rough n’ ready gal in the vein of Indiana Jones love interest Marion Ravenwood. The multiple Oscar-nominee shed her cutesy image with her foul-mouthed turn in The Fighter. Would other moviegoers like to see her work with Russell again ?

Wahlberg previously mentioned that Uncharted could begin shooting this summer, but Russell is reportedly also looking into making the comic book flick 2 Guns first. Stay tuned for more information in the near future.

Who do you want to see play Elena in Uncharted?

BONUS: For more info on the Uncharted video game series and the characters that appear in it, head over to Game Rant.

Source: Empire

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‘Uncharted’ Developer Denies ‘Family Dynamic’ & Mark Wahlberg as Nathan Drake

One week ago, we reported on the possibility that Mark Wahlberg might not be locked for the role of Nathan Drake in David O. Russell’s Uncharted movie.

Now, we’re getting further confirmation that Wahlberg, as well as the “Family Dynamic” that Russell had been touting, do not represent a concrete direction the filmmaker is headed.

Joystiq spoke with Uncharted 3 game director, Justin Richmond, who threw fans a bone, asserting that all of the outrage around the “family dynamic” that Russell had mentioned at the beginning of December, might be a bit premature:

“First of all, all that stuff was denied by David O. Russell. He actually called us up and was like, ‘I don’t know what these guys are talking about.’”

Similarly, Richmond also denied that Mark Wahlberg was a lock for stepping into the treasure-hunting boots of Nathan Drake. Joystiq claims, “Mark Wahlberg isn’t anywhere near to being confirmed to play Nathan Drake either — it’s just Hollywood scuttlebutt, apparently.”

As for the game director’s response to countless petitions for Firefly star Nathan Fillion to be cast in the role, Richmond responded with encouraging news for fans:

“Message received.”

In the world of the 24-hour internet news cycle it’s easy to see how Russell’s comment about interest in a “family dynamic” for his Uncharted movie could get twisted into fan-fueled anxiety – painting Russell’s, admittedly off-the-mark, idea as irrefutable fact.

However, the notion that Mark Wahlberg isn’t confirmed for the role is harder to dismiss, as the actor seemed pretty confident about his attachment to the part – and even seemed to sound as though he was assisting in the development of the film, when the news broke back in November.

Richmond’s comments offer a brief glimpse of perspective on a film production that has already received a lot of negative attention. Fan-reaction has been especially intense – because Russell and Wahlberg’s previous comments seemed to indicate that the filmmakers would be taking both the character and the story in a radically different direction than had been established in the games.

That said, the Uncharted film is still very much in the early stages of pre-production. It’s been six months since we heard anything about the Thomas Dean Donnelly/Joshua Oppenheimer script and Russell has only been attached to the project for a month and a half – and will undoubtedly be making significant edits (if not rewriting the script entirely).

As a result, Uncharted fans have plenty of reason to still be optimistic. Naughty Dog, the game’s developer, has proven they’re dedicated to high-quality, cinematic story-telling in their video games, and it’s hard to imagine that the team, or Sony, would allow (or at the very least can afford) to have the budding mega-game franchise tarnished by a horrible movie-adaptation.

Follow us on Twitter @iambenkendrick and @screenrant and let us know what you think.

Source: Joystiq

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David O. Russell Talks ‘Uncharted’ Movie Plot

Offbeat autuer David O. Russell has tried his hand at a war movie, screwball comedy, and a real-life sports drama, the results of which have been memorable, if not to everyone’s tastes. So what exactly is his plan for the video game-turned movie Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune?

Russell previously expressed his desire for Uncharted to feature a Robert De Niro/Joe Pesci reunion and has now opened up about how exactly those two veteran thespians would fit into the globetrotting adventure pic.

Mark Wahlberg confirmed that he will play Nate Drake in Russell’s new project and revealed that the plan is for De Niro and Pesci to play his father and uncle, respectively. The L.A. Times sat down with Russell, who offered the following quote as the premise for his take on Uncharted (one that he says “really turns me on” – take that as you will):

“… 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.

“We’ll have the family dynamic… And then you take that and put it on the bigger, more muscular stage of an international action picture, but also put all the character stuff in it. That’s a really cool idea to me.”

Family drama is very much at the forefront of Russell’s latest movie, this month’s much-buzzed-about pic, The Fighter – and there was certainly plenty of kin dysfunction in his 1996 comedy Flirting With Disaster as well. Russell’s approach to Uncharted also calls to mind Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, in which the titular archaeologist’s quest to recover the Holy Grail was all the more intriguing because of the dynamic between him and his old man, Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery).

Connery and Harrison Ford in the third Indiana Jones pic.

A lot of fans were left grumbling after Wahlberg won the lead role in Uncharted over Castle star Nathan Fillion, who arguably seems like a natural fit to play Drake, a quick-on-the-draw treasure plunderer with a sense of humor to boot. De Niro and Pesci’s potential involvement with the video game flick also left those familiar with the Uncharted-verse confused, since their classic wiseguy screen personas would feel rather out of place in that world.

Russell clearly has more than just a glorified cameo in mind for Drake’s family in Uncharted and he has yet to deliver a film that feels overly formulaic or run-of-the-mill. Could this be the first time a video game-turned cinematic venture turns out well – or at least better than satisfactory?

What do you think of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune so far?

Source: L.A. Times

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Mark Wahlberg Starring In ‘Uncharted’ Movie

Director David O. Russell’s wish comes true, just as Nathan Fillion’s wish tragically dies. The Firefly star (Fillion) began a Twitter campaign to help land him the lead role in the Uncharted video game movie adaption, but that part now officially belongs to Mark Wahlberg.

Wahlberg has confirmed that he will play the adventurer Nathan Drake in Uncharted, which will mark his fourth collaboration with Russell – a filmmaker known for being difficult to work with (and, as Christopher Nolan learned, a man willing to put you in a headlock in order to get what he wants).

Russell recently announced his plans for Uncharted to feature Wahlberg, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci. While it was made clear that Wahlberg was in line to play the Indiana Jones-esque lead in the film, fans were left in the dark as to how screen legends De Niro and Pesci fit into the picture.

Wahlberg spoke to MTV about starring in Uncharted and provided the following explanation for the rumored De Niro/Pesci reunion as well (note: we’re not sure whether his chart pun was intentional or not):

“I’m obviously in whatever David wants to do but the idea of ['Uncharted'] is so off the charts: De Niro being my father, Pesci being my uncle. It’s not going to be the watered-down version, that’s for sure.”

None of Nathan Drake’s family appeared in the original Uncharted games, which will allow Russell to create a backstory for the characters without violating the series canon – whether fans are going to like what the filmmaker comes up with is another story.

Uncharted is expected to be based off the first entry in the original video game series, Drake’s Fortune, which revolves around Nathan Drake as he tracks down the coffin of his ancestor – 16th century British sea captain, Sir Francis Drake – only to set off on another quest: find the mystical city of El Dorado.

Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the second National Treasure movie both used El Dorado as a MacGuffin (re: plot-driving device) in a fashion similar to that of Drake’s Fortune. Russell delivered a unique take on the war movie genre with Three Kings and this winter’s The Fighter looks to offer a fresh spin on the underdog sports drama. So chances are that Uncharted will be (if nothing else) unlike the average globe-trotting adventure pic. It could even elevate the video game movie genre to a new plateau: acceptable.

What do you think of Mark Wahlberg playing Nathan Drake in Uncharted? Let us know in the comments section below.

Source: MTV

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