Despite showing early signs of promise, things don’t look too rosy when it comes to Sony’s live-action rendition of The Last of Us, after Naughty Dog Creative Director Neil Druckmann conceded that the feature film has all but entered development hell in the past year or so.
Alas, it’s a similar story when it comes to the publisher’s long-gestating Uncharted movie, with numerous actors and directors – including Mark Wahlberg, David O. Russell and Baywatch helmer Seth Gorden – ducking out of the project before it could make the defining leap from Sony’s proverbial drawing board.
During an interview with IGN, Druckmann noted that although there was once a script in the works, the Naughty Dog team “haven’t seen anything in a while,” indicating that it too has been placed on ice over at Sony.
“Every once in a while they’ll come in and they’ll present to us: here’s the script, here’s what we’re thinking. We’ll tell them what we think works, what we think doesn’t work. That’s where we’re at. Last I heard is they got a new screenwriter, but we haven’t seen anything in a while.”
If the Uncharted movie were to pick up steam, however, the developer ensured fans that it would focus on the core relationships between Nathan, Elena and the cigar-chomping Sully – otherwise it may not work at all.
“Our approach is just to steer them back to those relationships. The most important part to get right is Nathan Drake, Nathan Drake’s relationship with Elena and Nathan Drake’s relationship with Sullivan. If you don’t get that right, I don’t think the film’s going to work. If you get that core right, there’s a chance it could work.”
At the time of writing, Sony has tentatively placed Uncharted for a release on June 30, 2017, though don’t expect that due date to stick for too much longer unless the company finds an appropriate director and actor in the coming months. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, meanwhile, looks set to bring the curtain down on Nathan Drake’s swashbuckling adventure on May 10.