We knew Nathan Fillion barely had a chance to be cast as Nathan Drake in the upcoming film adaptation of the stellar Uncharted video game series, even more so when David O. Russell was said to be the writer and director due to his penchant for Mark Wahlberg movies. Well, over on MTV Multiplayer, Mark Wahlberg confirmed that he’ll be playing Nathan Drake in the Uncharted film, showing that, once again, Hollywood doesn’t know what it’s doing regarding beloved video game franchises and obvious casting.
Aside from casting Mark Wahlberg instead of probably even thinking about Nathan Fillion, David O. Russell is writing parts in the script for Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro and hopes to bring the two together as Nathan Drake’s uncle and father, two characters that don’t exist in the two Uncharted games. Next, I’m sure we’ll find out that either Elena Fisher isn’t in the movie as Drake’s love interest, or she will be and they won’t cast Emily Rose, who does Elena’s voice acting in the games and looks just like her in real life. Let’s get Julia Roberts instead!
Listen, Hollywood, if there ever was an easy film adaptation of anything, it’s Uncharted. Here’s why:
1. It’s the easiest casting ever.
Nathan Fillion as Nathan Drake
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune boxart comparison with mocked-up Nathan Fillion boxart
2. Not only do the actors look just like the characters, but they act just like the characters.
- Nathan Drake is a charming, handsome, fun, sarcastic, victim of both extremes of luck, loyal thief with a heart of gold. Nathan Fillion is best known for his role as Malcolm Reynolds on Firefly, a charming, handsome, fun, sarcastic, victim of both extremes of luck, loyal space thief with a heart of gold.
- Victor Sullivan is a wise, wise-cracking, loyal, “too old for this” partner-in-crime to Nathan Drake. Bruce Campbell’s current role on the popular television show Burn Notice, Sam Axe, is a wise, wise-cracking, loyal, “too old for this” partner-in-crime to the show’s main character, Michael Weston.
- Elena Fisher, Drake’s love interest, is a sassy, witty, no-nonsense, caring, can-take-care-of-herself journalist. On SyFy’s Haven, Emily Rose plays Audrey Parker, a sassy, witty, no-nonsense, caring, can-take-care-of-herself detective.
3. Nathan Fillion really, really wants to be Nathan Drake.
Aside from Fillion fitting the role of Nathan Drake better than anyone in the entirety of human existence, he really wants to play Nathan Drake. I mean, really really. He launched a Twitter campaign where he asked his followers to help get him the role. Having your lead actor love and relish his role can only bring good things for a movie and said actor’s performance.
4. Everyone else really, really wants Nathan Fillion to be Nathan Drake.
Starting off your movie by pissing off the franchise’s loyal fan base is not a great way to start a movie, a sentiment we even ranted about a few days ago! Just google “nathan fillion uncharted” or “nathan fillion nathan drake” and you’ll see what I mean.
5. The Uncharted games are the closest gaming has ever come to “playing a movie.”
This is because Uncharted feels just like a summer blockbuster, from the witty writing, to the deep character development, to the gunfights, to the explosions, to the plot twists, to the last-second lucky escapes from death, Uncharted feels more like a movie than a lot of movies do. As for the script? All David O. Russell would have to do essentially, is copy/paste the first game’s script into whatever script-writing program he uses, then format the sequences where the player is in control into scripted sequences for the film. Easy peasy.
6. Nathan Drake and Nathan Fillion are both Nathans.
It’s destiny.
Listen, Mark Wahlberg is a fine actor, but his acting style that he’s displayed in nearly every single movie in which he’s starred simply doesn’t resemble anything that makes Nathan Drake worthwhile, and if David O. Russell manages to land Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro, the same goes for them.
So far, all I can do is sit and brood, probably along with most of the other Uncharted fans, and pray that the movie doesn’t end up as disappointing as it is already beginning to sound.
(story via MTV Multiplayer; some pictures via PS3 Informer)
