Uncharted, Sony’s long-gestating adaptation of the video game
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, is getting a shot in the arm. Oscar-winning screenwriter
Mark Boal (
The Hurt Locker) has been brought on to work on the film's screenplay, which will be
directed by Seth Gordon.
The action project might seem an odd choice for the journalist-turned-filmmaker, who is known for hard-hitting news-oriented dramas like
Zero Dark Thirtyand its depiction of the killing of
Osama bin Ladenby a team of Navy SEALs. But Boal, who
recently launched his Page 1 production company with backing from
Megan Ellison, is said to be a fan of the popular video game, which is being envisioned as a swashbuckling adventure in the vein of
Indiana Jones.
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The video game centers on a treasure hunter named Nate Drake, a descendent of explorer
Sir Francis Drake, who believes he has learned the whereabouts of the fabled golden South American city El Dorado from a cursed statue. His search for El Dorado becomes competitive when a rival hunter joins the fray. Both face creatures, mutated descendants of Spaniards and Nazis, that begin attacking those hoping to learn the treasure's true secrets.
Sony still needs to find its leading man for the film before it can move forward.
Mark Wahlberg had been attached but eventually moved on. More recently, the studio made an offer to
Chris Pratt, but he passed.
Boal isn't the first writer with an Oscar pedigree to take a crack at the property. Oscar nominee
David O. Russell also penned a draft of Uncharted when he was attached to direct. But that version, which was a departure from the video game, never gained any traction at the studio.