A sixth director may have been lined up for Sony’s beleaguered video game adaptation ‘Uncharted’, as it is being reported that Travis Knight is in negotiating to take over the Tom Holland film. Dan Trachtenberg was announced as leaving the project in August. Prior to that, (deep breath) Shawn Levy (‘Stranger Things’), Seth Gordon (‘Baywatch’), Neil Burger (‘The Upside’), and David O. Russell (‘Joy’) were each attached at one point or another. ‘Uncharted’ is based on the bestselling Sony Playstation game franchise and focuses on an Indiana Jones-esque adventurer, Nathan Drake (Holland). No other actors have been cast. Even so, production is expected to begin in early 2020, to make its December 18, 2020 release date.
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Knight previously worked in animation, including directing the stop-motion film ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’. His live-action directorial debut was the ‘Transformers’ reboot ‘Bumblebee’. He is also attached to helm another pic that has been struggling to get off the ground– ‘The Six Billion Dollar Man’, with Mark Wahlberg set to star. It just so happens that at one point, Wahlberg was attached to star in ‘Uncharted’. Reportedly, one of the things that attracted Knight to the project was the opportunity to work with Holland.
The most recent draft of the screenplay was penned by Art Marcum & Matt Holloway and Rafe Judkins. Before that, Russell, Joe Carnahan, Thomas Dean Donnelly & Joshua Oppenheimer, Marianne & Cormac Wibberley, David Guggenheim, Mark Boal, and Jonathan Rosenberg & Mark Walker penned drafts or treatments. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogan have stated that they declined the opportunity to write, when Sony approached them.
The ‘Uncharted’ movie will act as a prequel to the video games, which have sold over 41 million units. In the games, the Nathan Drake character is noticeably older than Holland. (Then again, if this flick keeps hitting delays, Holland may wind up playing Drake’s silver-haired mentor Sully.)
At this point, ‘Uncharted’ is still scheduled to be released on December 18, 2020.
Source: Deadline
