The planned movie adaptation of Uncharted has gained a new script writer in the shape of Bad Boys 3 scribe, Joe Carnahan, accoridng to a report on Variety.
Carnahan will provide the latest draft for the long-gestating project, although he won’t be directing due to scheduling conflicts with the aforementioned Will Smith action sequel.
“In a perfect world I would love to do both, but right now, I’m only on board to write the script,” he said.
“Archaeology today is in itself an antiquity, but that world has always fascinated me. Especially when you go to a museum today and wonder how a piece got there to begin with,” Carnahan continued. “Plus, the property itself is so popular that it was hard to turn down an opportunity to work on it.”
The Uncharted movie has been in development since 2010, back when David O. Russell was attached to the project. His vision of the Naughty Dog-developed videogame series differed considerably from the source material, and included Mark Wahlberg in the lead role.
O. Russell dropped out and was replaced by Neil Burger, who was keen to get the project back to its roots. However, he too opted out a year later to join another project, leading to Seth Gordon jumping on board.
Sadly, this didn’t work out either, with the Horrible Bosses director dropping out after Sony Pictures decided to steer the movie in a new creative direction. The movie is now scheduled to hit cinemas in summer 2017, although whether that’ll happen given the project’s tumultuous history is anyone’s guess.
Uncharted 5 could still happen despite Naughty Dog moving on
Naughty Dog has confirmed that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is the final title in the franchise it will be involved with, although it’s not done quite yet; there’s the single-player DLC still to come, and plenty more multiplayer support to boot.
Perhaps most interesting however is the fact the California-based studio hinted that Uncharted 5 could still happen at some point, albeit with another developer at the helm.
Given the series’ success—it’s sold 28 million units worldwide to date—it is unlikely Sony will want to abandon support for Uncharted just yet.