Seth Rogen Shoots Down Uncharted Movie Writing Gig

[Earnest Cavalli]

Seth Rogen Shoots Down Uncharted Movie Writing Gig

The Uncharted film adaptation is still in the works, but comedian Seth Rogen will not be writing the script.

It's been years since it was first revealed that Sony's flagship PlayStation 3 series Uncharted would be heading to Hollywood to receive the silver screen treatment. At one point Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell was attached to helm the film, but those plans were scuttled in 2011 when Russell left the project after citing creative differences with Sony.

Since that time the Japanese tech giant and Uncharted developer Naughty Dog have apparently been pestering comedian/actor/latter day pot icon Seth Rogen and frequent collaborator Even Goldberg to write the film. To date, the duo has flatly refused.

"They're constantly asking me and Evan to make the Uncharted movie," Rogen told IGN in a recent interview centering on Rogen's latest film This Is The End.

"For, like, four years now they've been like, 'make an Uncharted movie for us,'" Goldberg adds. "But it's just going to be Indiana Jones!"

While we're now morbidly curious to see what Rogen and Goldberg might do with the Uncharted property, they do raise a very good point: Any Uncharted film would almost have to be an Indiana Jones retread. After all, the main character is very clearly modeled after Harrison Ford's famous archaeologist (functionally, if not aesthetically), and the franchise has long lifted ideas from the Indiana Jones film series. There's only so many ways to portray a well-educated, attractive, scruffy white guy swiping cultural artifacts in gorgeous, exotic locations.

Uncharted lead Nathan Drake does not wear a fedora though, so there is at least one point of divergence between the two media properties.

Consider this news to be a bit of trivia. It's interesting that Rogen and Goldberg would be approached about this film, but since they turned it down we're no closer to seeing Uncharted in theaters. The film currently lacks any reasonable release date estimate, and as far as anyone knows the cast and crew have yet to be nailed down, so expect the wait for this flick to be pretty extensive. We'll bring you more just as soon as anything of note surrounding this film bubbles to the surface.

Source: IGN [http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/27/seth-rogen-and-evan-goldberg-asked-to-write-uncharted-film]

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[Gearhead mk2]

Oh just get Joss Whedon on the project already. If anyone can take an obnoxious guy like Nathan Drake and make him likeable, it'd be Joss. Also, if they do do a movie, I'd say make it CGI instead of Live Action, cos then they can bring the materials, animation team and VA's from the series.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

Oh just get Joss Whedon on the project already. If anyone can take an obnoxious guy like Nathan Drake and make him likeable, it'd be Joss. Also, if they do do a movie, I'd say make it CGI instead of Live Action, cos then they can bring the materials, animation team and VA's from the series.

I'd second this, although I'd rather see him spend his time on other projects. Still, I'd kinda like to see what Seth would do, but he does have a point. At best it's going to be an Indiana Jones ripoff, at worst it'll be a Tomb Raider retread, but most likely it'll just be National Treasure. No one wants that.

(And Captcha, how am I supposed to know if three small herrings are bigger than two big herrings?)

 

[Gearhead mk2]

snip

I'd second this, although I'd rather see him spend his time on other projects. Still, I'd kinda like to see what Seth would do, but he does have a point. At best it's going to be an Indiana Jones ripoff, at worst it'll be a Tomb Raider retread, but most likely it'll just be National Treasure. No one wants that.

I'm not saying that I want this to happen. But if you want to do a character-focused adventure, I think it's obvious Joss is the man to call. If it is gonna happen, it should at least be good. Though personally I'm still waiting for a Skulduggery Pleasant movie, which would also be perfect for Whedon.

 

[ZeroMachine]

"And the fans of the series heave a collective sigh of relief."

 

[trollnystan]

I've always considered Lara Croft a female Indiana Jones, and then Nathan Drake a male Lara Croft. But then I've never played the Uncharted series so I could be totally off base.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

Seth Rogen? Writing Uncharted? Not sad that this hasn't come to pass. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the guy. But he doesn't exactly have a background in adventure films.

Unless the movie is supposed to center on Nathan's younger days when he sat around and smoked weed all day.

 

[Rainboq]

I've always considered Lara Croft a female Indiana Jones, and then Nathan Drake a male Lara Croft. But then I've never played the Uncharted series so I could be totally off base.

Drake is more a hybrid of Mal from Firefly with Indy.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

With advance apologies to the Whedonites, that dude's high profile boils almost entirely down to good casting. If he wrote an Uncharted movie without securing Nathan Fillion as Nathan Drake, it would suck just as hard as Firefly would have without Nathan Fillion - and as hard as everything else Whedon writes without the crutch of an extremely charismatic actor. Take Fillion out of Firefly, NPH out of Dr. Horrible, and RDJ out of Avengers, and Whedon is an objectively terrible writer rather than probably terrible.

 

[Saltyk]

Okay, as a fan, I don't want an Uncharted movie. I don't know why studios think this is a good idea. Too many game based movies have been utter garbage. Why put us through that with what is a great game? I don't want to watch Drake, Sully, and company fight, climb, and solve puzzles while making sarcastic and funny remarks here and there. I want to play that.

I've always considered Lara Croft a female Indiana Jones, and then Nathan Drake a male Lara Croft. But then I've never played the Uncharted series so I could be totally off base.

This is pretty fair. I've honestly described the Uncharted games as playing Indiana Jones movies. In a good way. They have a very similar feeling. Not sure I would call Drake the male Laura, though. Maybe in that he's a game character, but I kinda feel like the Uncharted games are more heavily inspired by Indy's work.

 

[viranimus]

Solution: Shoot Seth Rogen.

What do you mean there is a movie involved? What does that have to do with anything, Shoot Rogen NOW! Put him out of all of our collective misery once and for all.

 

[Shocksplicer]

With advance apologies to the Whedonites, that dude's high profile boils almost entirely down to good casting. If he wrote an Uncharted movie without securing Nathan Fillion as Nathan Drake, it would suck just as hard as Firefly would have without Nathan Fillion - and as hard as everything else Whedon writes without the crutch of an extremely charismatic actor. Take Fillion out of Firefly, NPH out of Dr. Horrible, and RDJ out of Avengers, and Whedon is an objectively terrible writer rather than probably terrible.

Several years ago, back before the Uncharted movie fell into development hell, Nathan Fillion wanted the role of Drake.
Make of that what you will.

 

[l3o2828]

Get Yahtzee to write it then.
I for one want to see Nathan get beaten up more than ever.

 

[Darks63]

Seth Rogen? Writing Uncharted? Not sad that this hasn't come to pass. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the guy. But he doesn't exactly have a background in adventure films.

Unless the movie is supposed to center on Nathan's younger days when he sat around and smoked weed all day.

This was pretty much my thoughts as well. Did the makers of this film not see how most of his stuff flows? did the not see the green hornet?

Under Rogen Drake would be a slacker who finds a coin is the key to finding the lost city of gold while couch fishing at his uncle's place. On his way to the 7 eleven up the street to buy an instant burrito with the coin he would be captured by thugs working for his uncle's loan shark. This loan shark would also happen to be an archaeologist who makes the guy from raiders look subtle. this would lead to an adventure where drake would meet a awesome native girl and they would find that the lost city of gold was really one made out of gold quality weed. It would end with him defeating the bad guys by out smoking them and drake and the native girl looking into the sunrise wondering how they will ever some all this weed.

 

[rasputin0009]

I'd turn this down if I had any writing skills, too. Why the fuck would you make a movie of this? Don't get me wrong, I love Uncharted. But this is silly. Uncharted is a rehash of Indiana Jones, which is fine because it's in a different medium. But to go back to the original medium? A rehash of a rehash? So silly.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Tarintino would kill this movie.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

There's not a single video game I actually want to see made into a movie. Not any more. Least of all Uncharted because the games are pretty much as close to a movie as you can get anyway.

 

[Starik20X6]

Just... Stop. Stop making 'game movies'. Please. For 99% of all games, the reason we love them and the reason they work is because they are games. Uncharted is good as a game because we as Nathan Drake get to explore all the exotic locations and find all the sweet treasure. Making it a movie would be all "hey, you know that fun game you like playing? Well here it is without any of the gameplay!" Piss off. If I want to experience Uncharted, I'll play goddamn Uncharted on my goddamn PS3.