Uncharted movie has Sopranos-like family

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 10 February, 2011

"I don't think you can please everybody."

Uncharted fans worried about the upcoming movie of the game were given further cause for concern after the director and scriptwriter revealed plans to depict a Sopranos-like family with a sense of justice.

Director David O. Russell, the man behind the Oscar-nominated The Fighter, told IGN the Uncharted movie tells the story of a "badass" crime family.

"If we take that family dynamic that we have in The Fighter, and put that in terms of a grander stage, with a crime family that metes out justice in the world of art and antiquities," he said, "if you're the head of a museum, or head of state, you've got to deal with them, and they're badass.

"They're like the Sopranos in some ways, but they have great taste, and they have a sense of justice."

Confusingly, Russell said Uncharted was the game he wanted to make a film of "because it's centred around a family, and I like the combination of criminals and truth. These guys they're tough but they're working on this crazy case, and they can't do it without truth. I think that's cool". Eh?

The Fighter star Mark Wahlberg is set to play Uncharted protagonist Nathan Drake. Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci are rumoured to be in line for roles as family members.

Many fans of the videogame have expressed concern at the direction of the movie. But, according to Russell, "I don't think that you can please everybody."

"I want the gamers to be happy. I have total respect for the game. My kid loves playing it, I love playing it. I just want to create a world that takes it to another level, that's another amazing world that's more cinematic."

Russell is almost done with the script. He said it's going to be "fantastic".

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (66) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • NotSoSlim #1 1 year ago

    He has obviously played the game yet cones out with this crap....wouldn't be shocked at a straight to dvd job

  • SBfistfun #2 1 year ago

    Just don't.

  • LukehMuse #3 1 year ago

    I await it's name change to Everybody Loves Drake.

  • OnlyMe #4 1 year ago

    Would be nice if you at least tried to please SOME of the FANS.

  • flaming-carrot #5 1 year ago

    It really doesn't sound like the director has played Uncharted at all, despite his claims to the contrary.

    If the producers wanted to make a movie about a treasure hunting 'family', why the need for the Uncharted licence? Sounds like they have written their own story and just slapped the Uncharted name on it.

  • Yuroko #6 1 year ago

    Fuck off Hollywood. Go remake something.

  • Adam_11 #7 1 year ago

    You know, I'd happily pay money to see this.

    If I could use Monopoly money...

  • IonOnion #8 1 year ago

    Why even call it Uncharted?

    Just name it Marky Mark's Sopranos so we can forget about it.

  • ZizouFC #9 1 year ago

    What the fuck is he talking about?

  • evild_edd #10 1 year ago

    This may just be the best Mark Wahlberg movie based on a videogame since Max Payne....

    Make of that what you will.

  • CosmicFuzz #11 1 year ago

    Sounds nothing like Uncharted.

  • JohnnyWashnGo #12 1 year ago

    This film is gonna tank... Someone somewhere must have dropped the ball on this and given away way too much control over the project.

  • SClaw #13 1 year ago

    And everyone thinks Uwe Boll is bad at this stuff. At least he knowingly fucks it up, this guy just sounds utterly clueless.

  • Alf-Life #14 1 year ago

    Wasn't a Drake's Fortune game already released under the name 'Indiana Jones'?


    But seriously, if we're honest most games borrow heavily from movies (and other games) so why re-cannabalise them into diluted versions of themselves?
    If you have to [to make money], at least make a game IP which is more original and less movie-like, like Bioshock into a movie - although even that borrows from The City of Lost Children (although that's less mainstream so they could get away with it).

  • AcidSnake #15 1 year ago

    "Hey, so like, put down the Renner or Little Mikey here gives ya a pair of cement shoes"
    "Excuse me? You mean this Renoir?"
    "At's what I said! Are you trying to be funny? Also hand over them Pikahsso, Fan Ko and Rembrint"

    ...Dear me, criminals fighting for truth!...But they're good guys, just wrongfully accused due to the extreme power of the fine arts lobby...

  • Tomo #16 1 year ago

    This feels almost like a parody. It reminds me of the BBC series Episodes except it's the writer who is the assshat. Russell is basically the balding exec taking a name and spinning it to whatever first pops into his head. Sigh.

    Uncharted is so ripe for filming, JUST AS IT IS. It's basically a perfect excuse to pump out a new Indiana Jones-esque franchise. But clearly, everyone hated Indiana Jones because it didn't contain enough fat Italian-Americans with speech impediments.

    Gah.

  • CloisterBlack #17 1 year ago

    Yes, you CAN please everybody if you keep it true to the original franchise.
    A possibility that hasn't even crossed his mind from what it seems.

  • Steizgr8 #18 1 year ago

    Fair enough, you can't please everyone, but could you not even attempt to please the game's fans?

  • menage #19 1 year ago

    Fuck you incompetent bastard, he obviously has no clue about the game at all. What freaking family did he see, did he play Mario and thought it was about Italians or something?

    Feels relieved.

  • richarddavies #20 1 year ago

    I watched the Fighter at the weekend and thought it was pissin brilliant but im still not too optimistic of this. Filmmakers can't seem to help themselves. They get a film license to a game and they start making little changes here and there thinking there improving it and before you know it you have a product which is nothing like the source material.

  • Sutorcen #21 1 year ago

    W T F. What family? WTF are you talking about mr.David O. Russell????

    "I don't think that you can please everybody." You are not trying to please anybody except your producers with this crap of an adaptation.

    The more I read about this movie the more I wanna smash my monitor... and my ps3... and Russell's head...

    Epic failure on the horizon...

  • Antaios #22 1 year ago

    Oh for the love of God.. Naughty Dog hands them great characters and story on a silver platter and even when that's spelled out these idiots still don't get it. They can just make Drake's Fortune and Amongst Thieves and Drake's Deception after that and it will be great and it will sell.

    The characters don't need to be changed, their back stories don't need to be changed. All the 'lore' is established and in place. Basically, get Nathan Fillion (or Joe Flanegan), Emily Rose and Claudia Black (amongst others) for the parts and use the story of the games. There's absolutely no need to be creative on this one, so don't.

    And for Pete's sake: listen to the people WHO HAVE PLAYED THE GAMES for a change (and play them yourself before you start writing a nonsense script).

  • Cappy #23 1 year ago

    Great, another piece of cinematic trash that glorifies criminality and 'justified' violence.

    Video games take all the blame these days so they can do what they like I guess.

  • spliffhead #24 1 year ago

    More cinematic?

    The fun of Uncharted was that you played the big scenes yourself, not just a bog standard FMV effort.

    Maybe this guy should make a Space Ace movie instead.

  • Sodding_Gamer #25 1 year ago

    "Confusingly, Russell said Uncharted was the game he wanted to make a film of "because it's centred around a family""

    Clearly he has no idea what Uncharted is. Since when is it about family?! Its about Nath, Sully and a few sexy ladies. That's where the "family" ends. Stupid Fucktard.

  • L0cky #26 1 year ago

    "I just want to create a world that takes it to another level, that's another amazing world that's more cinematic."

    The world has already been created, that's the whole point...

  • bodypopper #27 1 year ago

    I can only assume Naughty Dog signed away all creative control over this which if true was a huge mistake.

  • frunk #28 1 year ago

    Sob...

    because it's centred around a family

    Strange I thought Uncharted was centred around huge set pieces of action in fabulous locations round the world.


    He does not get it... he is an amazing film maker... I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I have the creeping sense of doom on this one.

  • Quint2020 #29 1 year ago

    I tell you how to please people, make it MORE like the game not less....

  • SeesThroughAll #30 1 year ago

    "I don't think you can please everybody."

    Indeed. But you could actually try to please the actual fans of the game. You know, the actual people who are more likely to go watch it, or rather, were likely to go watch it, before you raped the story and casted the lead role to a below mediocre actor.

    "I want the gamers to be happy. I have total respect for the game. My kid loves playing it, I love playing it. I just want to create a world that takes it to another level, that's another amazing world that's more cinematic."

    What a fucking unprofessional liar.
    Edited by SeesThroughAll at 10/02/11 @ 10:12

  • NorUraeus #31 1 year ago

    hmm, if the Uncharted movie doesn't get greenlighted I heard he wants to make the Halo movie, because its a story about a family of badass master chiefs with a moral compass. Travelling the universerse as an ass-kicking Red Cross outfit. At least that is what he took away after playing the game with his children.

  • infernox1 #32 1 year ago

    you cant please ANYbody in the state its in, except yourself and maybe marky mark. since when was uncharted centred around a family?

  • nuanimal #33 1 year ago

    WHAT THE FUCK!?

  • arcam #34 1 year ago

    "They're like the Sopranos in some ways, but they have great taste"</a>

    http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9G...

  • Bigmac1910 #35 1 year ago

    I have finished Uncharted 2 FOUR times, and Uncharted twice, I have NEVER seen any family drama in the game. This dude is flat out LYING about having played the game. And unless someone points a gun at my head, I will NEVER watch this movie. Way to fuck up Hollywood.

  • J_C_X #36 1 year ago

    Is it possible the source material for this film was never really that great in the first place? The game itself was fine but I found the stories in both games..... average at most. The characters and especially the villains were 2D and lazy stereotypes soemtimes often bordering on racist, I can appreciate they wanted change bad guys from black and hispanics in the first one to whites in second game but they rather lazily used Slavs and now by the looks of the third installment it's Arabs.

    Uncharted games are solid but for stories they're distinctly below average.

  • Riggers #37 1 year ago

    I'm making a movie about Manhunt. The game excites me, because it's about a badger wearing a hat, and he goes on crazy adventures through Tipton and Bilston looking for a suitable man to marry his sister. I want to expand on the game world, and take the whole comedy element to a new level.

    -_-

  • Bigmac1910 #38 1 year ago

    @J_C_X

    You can always flesh out the characters while still maintaining the basics, and they still could have put the story into any setting, but making into the Sopranos is just wrong.

  • PixelPirate #39 1 year ago

    has he actually not seen this game at all?

    film will suck.

  • greenllama88 #40 1 year ago

    Think they have completely missed the point when talking about antiques crime fighters. The characters in Uncharted were good characters because they were likeable despite the fact that they were out for themselves, even the baddies in some ways and in many ways Nath himself. This just sounds like they have assumed that their audience are too thick to understand characters that are not completely black and white. Its patronising assumptions like this that make me worry about the film itself and why 90% of films in the cinemas are utter shite full stop.

  • tinyspark #41 1 year ago

    Sounds like he already had a crappy script for a movie about a 'family of badass antique dealers" and now he's trying to lever it into the Uncharted universe.

    This will be woeful.
    Edited by tinyspark at 10/02/11 @ 11:31

  • mcwildcard #42 1 year ago

    So it’s a Light-hearted-historical-artifact-hunting-mafia-crime-family caper/romp… so far.
    Does he get an extra $10mil in his budget from the studio for each genre he manages to cack-handedly shoehorn in?

    He’s going to cast Miley Cyrus as Elena, I can sense it. Then it can be a Teen-musical-light-hearted-historical-artifact-hunting-mafia-crime-family caper/romp.

    $$$Ker-ching!!$$$

  • jefranklin18 #43 1 year ago

    Or in this case: "I don't think you can please anybody." ("with the decisions I am making" he added under his breath).

    I am disappointed that Sony are allowing this level of butchering to happen.

  • EVERYGAMER #44 1 year ago

    Dear Naughty Dog

    I wonder if you are aware that your up until now unblighted franchise "Uncharted" is about to have a terrible film made about it.
    A film that has almost no resemblance to your well scripted and voice acted game and its sequel. I'm sure you like myself and other gamers would not want to see a substandard product taint what is a well respected and critically aclaimed licence for your company.
    I mean they are going to put Mark Wahlberg.....Marky Mark of the funky bunch in the lead role of Nathan Drake, No Didnt think you'd be impressed with that.
    Please get in touch with whoever is making this travesty of a film and advise them the deals off and your taking your IP and going home. There will be other chances to make a quality product with people who actually care about and respect the game and its characters.......I hear Nathan Fillion, Capt Mal Reynolds from the cult Scifi Series Firefly realy wants to play Drake and has actually played the games!!!

    In closing I hope this letter finds you in good health and that the 3rd game is coming along well?

    P.S DONT LET THE FILM INDUSTRY RUIN UNCHARTED. GIVE THE FILM TO UWE BOL EVEN HE COULDNT MAKE A FILM AS BAD AS THIS ONE IS TURNING OUT TO BE.

    Yours sincerely (your name here)

    Please feel free to copy this template letter and email it to Naughty Dog they must be told how we really feel.
    Edited by EVERYGAMER at 10/02/11 @ 12:42

  • Caimbeul #45 1 year ago

    Granted you certainly cannot please everyone but stop sh!tting on the project every month with more bad news for EVERYONE not just a few hardcore obsessive. I will genuinly be surprised if this film is even remotely watchable. Sad.

  • SeesThroughAll #46 1 year ago

    @EVERYGAMER: Clean up the language and email that. I think fans should massively email ND, SCE, and Sony Pictures complaining.

  • EVERYGAMER #47 1 year ago

    @SeesThroughAll

    changes made and emailed now if everyone else will follow suit?

  • Murton #48 1 year ago

    I really liked the idea of the Uncharted movie, but this has now become so far detached from Uncharted that I've lost all interest. I now want this to fail spectacularly and put Hollywood off of the idea of making movies out of games forever.

    And Russel, you can indeed please everybody and I'll tell you just how to do it. Change the name of the movie. Call it anything but Uncharted and you'll make everyone very happy, you've written your own characters and story anyway, what's in a name?

  • J_C_X #49 1 year ago

    My point is that even if it was a literal adaption from the games stories, it would be barely watchable.

    Lets be honest here National Treasure was quite rightly mauled by critics but in all honesty it's story is a cut above anything Uncharted games has.

    I really don't understand the hype around the Uncharted story, has anyone ever watched a semi-decent film or read a book?

  • EVERYGAMER #50 1 year ago

    Just a thought Eurogamer. Deniro is a method actor so he will want to immerse himself in the lore of the games to really ground his character. Why not send him a PS3 and a copy of the games. I'm sure he'd be chuffed with the free gift and once he sees how the film will bear no relation to the subject matter wont want to be in it, he will then contact Joe Pesci and advise him not to sign up either. Perhaps then the people making the film will realise just how badly they have fucked up and scrap the film or as Murton suggested just rename it and distance it from the Uncharted brand?

  • king26 #51 1 year ago

    I love the Sopranos but Uncharted ihas nothing in common!! Infiana Jones and Tomb Raider yes but not the Sopranos!!

  • Eraysor #52 1 year ago

    Nathan Fillion is probably pretty chuffed that he's not in this film now!

  • curtlikesmeat #53 1 year ago

    Do not want.

  • Lusterpurge #54 1 year ago

    I hope they make Nathan Drake a Gulf war vet who is haunted by the death of his buddy who died by stepping on a land mine that Drake forgot to diffuse. I think it will add character depth and emotional intensity so the audience can sympathize with him.

  • darkphoenix #55 1 year ago

    what a focking joke this is turning out...

    More cinematic than a cinematic game, one that drinks from the very icons, the very best of the adventure movie genre?

    Who greenlights these idiots?
    Bad move for Sony and Naughty Dog, ruining their most precious franchise in this generation.

  • EVERYGAMER #56 1 year ago

    They have already made an uncharted film http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1057576/ and before anyone says its nothing to do with the games. Its got an island and its called Uncharted, sounds like it has a s much in common with the games as this new film will ;-)

  • zedzee #57 1 year ago

    Eh? Does he think he's making a film based on "Uncharted" or based on "Godfather: The Game" ?!
    Edited by zedzee at 10/02/11 @ 14:00

  • dwalker109 #58 1 year ago

    Games are not movies, movies are not games. They share elements (I watched Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief the other day and it was like playing God of War, honestly) but that is it. Elements which make a game great can make a film uninteresting. Elements which make a film interesting can make a game dull. So I really don't see the point. At all.
    Edited by dwalker109 at 10/02/11 @ 14:48

  • Kaminari #59 1 year ago

    I don't think Russell has any idea what Uncharted is actually about. Probably because he's confusing it with an entirely different game...

  • LazyNinjaUk #60 1 year ago

    I don't know what game he's thinking of but there was never even so much of a hint about a "family that fights crime". Are we absolutely sure he's been playing the right game? Couldn't have perhaps been The Incredibles?

  • NunianVonFuch #61 1 year ago

    Has anyone here actually seen David O. Russell's other films? Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees and The Fighter are brilliant unique films and I'm confident he can deliver another of the same quality.

    You're getting an oscar-winning cast and nominated director. If he comes out with a decent flick at the end of it so what if it has nowt to do with the games but the spirit? The spirit of the Uncharted series and banter between characters is what made it so good, plot was threadbare at best. Just no stupid monsters please. They ruined the climax of both games.

  • Eerazor #62 1 year ago

    You dont think you can please everybody? It would have been nice if you would have at least attempted to please those people that actually apriciate the game, which, fair to say compared to movie goers is not that high, but ultimately would have helped the movie immensly with word of mouth marketing.

  • man.the.king #63 1 year ago

    I have two more suggestions-for-change for David O. Russell in his movie.

    Can you please:
    (1) Change the name of the protagonist from Nathan Drake to something else, for example, Tony Soprano. Also, change the names of the main supporting characters.
    (2) Change the name of the movie from Uncharted to something else.

    That should just about do it.
    Edited by man.the.king at 10/02/11 @ 17:14

  • metamorphic #64 1 year ago

    The IGN journo didn't contradict him on his claim that the game centered around the "family dynamic" (yeah, right) because he was scared O'Russell would punch his teeth in. Guy's a fucking nutjob.

  • BEXANT #65 1 year ago

    Well that just adds the cherry to the crock of shit pie that this movie conversion is going to be!

  • samk #66 1 year ago

    "because it's centred around a family, and I like the combination of criminals and truth. These guys they're tough but they're working on this crazy case, and they can't do it without truth. I think that's cool"

    WTF is this guy talking about?

    Attn. David O. Russell / Columbia Pictures...

    Yo douches, follow these steps:

    1) Actually bother to play both Uncharted games to see what the fuss is about.
    2) Watch the Indy 1-3 movies.
    3) Cast Nathan Fillion.