David O.Russell has dropped directing duties on Sony's video game adaptation of
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, according to
Deadline. No reasons have been given but O.Russell's fickle interest in a dozen projects since his Oscar nominated
The Fighter battled awards contention this past winter does make you wonder how serious he was about some of the varying films he was attached to in the first place. It's believed Sony remain serious about bringing the Indiana Jones style adventurer to the big screen (and I imagine wanting to beat the Lara Croft reboot at GK Films in the mean time) and a new writer is being sought to work alongside Conan scribes
Thomas Dean Donnelly &
Joshua Oppenheimer, who had been working closely with the director. Is
Mark Wahlberg still attached (he came AFTER O.Russell's appointment and seems to follow the director wherever he goes lately) and what about
Robert De Niro and
Joe Pesci who were said to have supporting roles? I guess it depends on who Sony find as a replacement.
THR updates Deadline's story and say O. Russell turned in an epic tome of a 200 page script which featured a load of characters not included in the video game, so I imagine Sony weren't all that pleased and O. Russell couldn't be bothered to fight his corner and duly dumped the film. Reminiscent of
Raiders of the Lost Ark - the video game finds Nate Drake, a descendent of explorer Sir Francis Drake on the trackdown for the fabled El Dorado city in South America where he must battle mutated creatures of Nazi/Spaniards to uncover the true secrets & treasures of the lost city. Bags of potential in an adaptation but how many times have we said that about video game films down the years?
Where does this leave O.Russell? Well
as recently as May 13th the signs pointed to movement on his long-in-the-making adaptation of
Matthew Quicks novel
The Silver-Lining Playbook which has been in development at The Weinstein Company since 2008 and now has Mark Wahlberg attached. Wahlberg would play former high school history teacher Pat Peoples who upon being released from a four year slog in a mental institution, moves back in with his mother and attempts to make a means with his ex-wife. Interestingly, Pat thinks he has only been away from home for a few months, not years. Back in Decemeber,
Anne Hathaway was being talked about for the ex-wife role in the movie where The Hangovers
Bradley Cooper would play Pat Peoples, but with Wahlbergs latest attachment things have clearly moved on. And certainly Hathaway looks busy going meow for Chris Nolan for the time being...