The timing for the long-gestating Uncharted film adaptation seemed to have finally been right, with a script, director and stars all attached and ready to go, but amidst growing concerns over the global coronavirus outbreak, Sony has elected to put a pause on production, according to Variety.
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The project is currently in pre-production and was set to begin shooting next month in Berlin, but akin to Warner Bros’ decision to halt production on The Matrix 4, studio execs thought it best for everyone’s safety to delay the shoot indefinitely while pre-production is currently delayed by six weeks.
Zombieland and Venom director Ruben Fleischer will helm the action-adventure film, replacing Travis Knight (Bumblebee).
Grey’s Anatomy actress Sophia Ali and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina star Tati Gabrielle have also been cast for the Uncharted film which is set to start filming in four weeks. Banderas, Ali and Gabrielle’s roles are currently being kept under wraps.
Uncharted will be a prequel to the game series, taking its basis from the sequence in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception wherein the young thief Nathan Drake (Tom Holland) first encounters his partner Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) and in essence, sets up the events of the entire game franchise.
Despite previous drafts by the likes of Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty), Oscar nominee David O. Russell, Doctor Strange‘s Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, Safe House‘s David Guggenheim, and Joe Carnahan, the new draft of the screenplay is written by Rafe Judkins, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway.
Based on the action-adventure video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune from Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive, the story follows a descendant of explorer Sir Francis Drake, a treasure hunter named Nate Drake who believes he has learned the whereabouts of El Dorado, the fabled South American golden city, from a cursed golden statue. The search becomes competitive when a rival hunter joins the fray, then is escalated when creatures — actually mutated descendants of Spaniards and Nazis — begin attacking those hoping to learn the treasure’s true secrets.
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Uncharted is an Arad/Atlas Entertainment Production, with Charles Roven, Avi Arad, Alex Gartner, and Ari Arad producing. The film will serve as the first feature produced by PlayStation Productions.
Travis Knight became the sixth director to leave the project in its decade-long development cycle which began with Russell attached to direct followed by Neil Burger (Limitless), Seth Gordon (Baywatch), Shawn Levy (Free Guy) and Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane)
The film will arrive in theaters on March 5, 2021.
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