A week or two ago the internet was ablaze with a ‘debunk’ story: one of the guys who was working on the next Uncharted video game had shrugged off reports that Mark Wahlberg was starring in the film and that the movie itself would feature the family of Drake Fortune.Nathan Drake
I didn’t run this story because what the hell does some guy working on the video game know? The reality here is that when your favorite video game, comic or toaster oven are being adapted into a movie you will often know more about what’s happening with that movie than the people involved with the original property. Hell, often the people writing movies know less about what’s happening with them than you do.
The people who know the most are the producers, then the directors, then the studio execs. Somewhere down the line - further down than the head of marketing but further up than the guy who is working on the video game - are the actors. And Mark Wahlberg, the actor in question, reconfirmed yesterday that he’s in Uncharted, and he’s not alone.
”David O’Russell is writing right now and hopes to direct”, Wahlberg told Moviehole. “It’s myself, Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro.”
Now, we can parse this. David O Russell is not yet definitely directing, it seems. That’s up in the air. I don’t think we’ll know for sure until after the Oscars, and that’s partially because he’s keeping his options open. Of course the fact that he’s not fully signed on to direct means that it’s probably that none of the actors are signed on, either. There have surely been talks (and it isn’t like De Niro is so hard to get), but nothing is in stone. So the good news for you folks hating this casting and this story concept still have some hope. Some slight hope.
But unless Russell opting not to direct changes the whole project I would expect that his script remains the basis for what goes on in the film, which means the family element remains. And the studio may love this casting and stick with it. But as of right now, January 7, 2011, Mark Wahlberg is still the star of Uncharted, and he’s bringing his dad and uncle with him.