The voice actor behind Uncharted’s Nathan Drake has claimed that fans aren’t too keen on seeing a movie adaptation of Naughty Dogs’ much-loved action-adventure franchise.
Speaking during an interview with GameNewsOfficial (via Screen Rant), Nolan North, who has voiced Drake since the very first Uncharted game back in 2007, questioned whether or not a movie is a hot topic among fans, and doesn’t think there’s much appeal for a flick regardless who is starring in it.
“I think the emotional investment people have with Nathan Drake is so high that it would be very difficult for them to accept somebody else,” commented North. “Even me – my face as Nathan Drake. They might recognise the voice but I don’t even know if they’d accept me.”
Elsewhere, North also wasn’t sure if an Uncharted movie would be a wise move financially given the recent disappointing box office returns of Hitman: Agent 47, a film based on another popular video game property. Despite his feelings, North has made it clear he wants to land a cameo in the movie.
The Uncharted movie has been planned for a number of years, with reports first surfacing back in 2009—a point where Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was the only game in the series to have come out. A few years later, the project nabbed a director in the shape of David O. Russell, who came under fire from fans due to the fact his script would have deviated considerably from the source material. Fortunately, he later left the project and Neil Burger took over, who pledged to take the film back to its video game roots.
Sadly, this stint didn’t work out either, and Burger was replaced by Seth Gordon and the script underwent a complete rewrite. Things seemed to finally be moving along smoothly, as it was reported the movie would start shooting in early 2015 with a projected release date of June 10, 2016. Despite this, Sony’s decision to move the film in another direction prompted Gordon to abandon the project, putting the film in development hell once again. It’s still in development though, with Sony now planning on getting the fick out in 2017. Right now, it’s still not clear who will play Nathan Drake, although one thing’s for sure—it won’t be Chris Pratt.
The Uncharted video game franchise remains one of Sony’s most successful first-party IPs, selling over 21 million copies to date. The series is gearing up for its gripping conclusion in March 2016 with the release of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which will bring closure to Drake’s story arc.