Screenwriter Joe Carnahan has been chatting about his approach to writing the Uncharted movie…
The core creative team is now in place for the long-in-gestation Uncharted movie, based on the hit series of video games. Sony has hired Shawn Levy – riding high off the back of Netflix’s Stranger Things– to direct, and Joe Carnahan is on screenwriting duties.
In a new interview with Collider, Carnahan has been talking about the direction the film will be headed. He revealed that he and Levy have been working on the film the weekend past, and that the pair of them are wary of it being an Indiana Jones clone rather than its own thing.
“I think [Levy] understands, we both have tremendous fondness for Raiders, and he wants to, I think Shawn’s capable of doing a lot of things. I can tell you this: what I’ve written is very anti-Indy in the sense of the guy that loves museums and wants to preserve these artifacts. He’s not! He’s a thief and he’s a grifter, and he’s a scourge,” Carnahan said.
The "he" in question is the main protagonist of the games, Nathan Drake. “He and Sully are not good guys, but they’re better than the bad guys. It’s a game, you know, they’re certainly rogues, and certainly don’t have a problem, even in the first game he just kind of dump Elena and it’s interesting,” Carnahan said.
He also added, “I honestly think this one’s got a real shot. And I was really glad when Shawn came on because I’m too deep into Bad Boysand I really want see that through. Too much sweat equity in that one; years of trying to do Uncharted. I’m flattered that these guys wanted me to write it. It’s a hell of a responsibility and hell of an opportunity and I don’t want to squander it now.”
Carnahan’s commitment to directing Bad Boys 3is what he’s talking about there, with shooting on that set to begin next year.
One more thing: he also revealed that he’s been talking to some of the people who worked on the video games to try and get the movie right.
“You can’t be so slavish and devoted to the source material,” Carnahan added. “It’s just making a great movie and trying to put as much of the game in as you can.”
The Unchartedmovie is now set to land in 2018, with filming commencing next year. The full interview with Collider - that's really worth a read - is here.
