Shawn Levy is no longer attached to helm the Uncharted film. According to io9, Levy has left the project in order to concentrate on Free Guy, an upcoming film starring Ryan Reynolds. Ironically enough, that movie stars Reynolds as a bank teller who discovers he’s a background character in a video game.
The Uncharted video game series has been one of Sony’s most critically and financially successful franchises for their PlayStation consoles. The most recent entry, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, came out in 2016. It was touted as the last game to feature its treasure hunting protagonist, Nathan Drake. A film adaptation has been in the works since at least 2009 and it has cycled through a handful of directors. Oscar nominee David O. Russell was the first to sign on, and he famously drew ire when he cast Mark Wahlberg as Drake instead of fan-favorite Nathan Fillion. Both Russell and Wahlberg dropped out a year later. Neil Burger and Seth Gordon were also attached at various points before Levy was hired in late 2016.
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Levy’s departure is somewhat surprising, as he spoke optimistically about the Uncharted film several times last summer. He praised the current draft of the script and indicated that they were about to ramp up the casting process. One of Levy’s biggest accomplishments while in charge was drafting Tom Holland to play a younger version of Nathan Drake. There aren’t any signs that point to Holland jumping ship as well.
What are your thoughts on Shawn Levy vacating the director’s chair for Uncharted? Who would you choose to replace him? Let us know in the comment section below!