Uncharted Film Script R-Rated, Naughty Dog Not Involved

Uncharted Film Script R-Rated, Naughty Dog Not Involved

Uncharted‘s script is R-Rated according to the film’s writer, Joe Carnahan. Speaking with film website ComingSoon, Carnahan described his his script as “foul-mouthed” and action-packed. “I wrote it the way that movie should be written,” describes Carnahan, defending his script when confronted with the idea that R-Rated films typically aren’t as profitable as PG-13 films. He insists that PG-13 is a “cop-out” and refers to the recent success of both R-Rated films Deadpool and Logan as evidence.

For all appearances, Carnahan seems keyed into what the Uncharted games embraced thematically. Here are his thoughts on protagonist Nathan Drake and how he compares to Indiana Jones:

“Drake is not a guy who likes museums. He thinks they’re all crooked. Curators are ‘thieves;’ the guys in the Louvre and The Met are thieves and despicable. He’s a treasure hunter, not an archaeologist. He doesn’t have Indiana Jones’ idea of pure faith in archaeology. That’s not the way he thinks.”

Uncharted Movie Script R-Rated

Carnahan refers to Amy Hennig‘s writing in the first Uncharted game when noting the Indiana Jones contrast, stating he sees Hennig’s writing of Drake as, “an anti-Indiana Jones.”  He cites Nathan’s off-handed treatment of Elena as evidence of Drake’s roguish tendencies. Naturally, he doesn’t go into detail as to how his feelings on Nathan Drake and the mature nature of the games will be reflected in-movie.

Yet despite Carnahan’s seeming reverence for the source material, he also makes clear that the Uncharted script he wrote is not based on the games themselves. Regarding the matter, Carnahan said,”There’s no point in just transposing them to film. You’ve gotta come up with new ****, so that’s what I did. It was a great challenge but it was a lot of fun.”

It’s no surprise that given Carnahan’s candid interview, his feelings on Uncharted, its protagonist, and their mature tones, that the Uncharted fan-base would be quick to respond. A Twitter user quickly turned and asked Neil Druckmann, who replaced the franchise director Amy Hennig during Uncharted 4‘s development, about his thoughts. Specifically, the Twitter user asked Druckmann to tell Sony that Uncharted is a “lighthearted” action adventure.

Druckmann quickly responded by stating that Naughty Dog wasn’t familiar with the script. More than that, Druckmann went so far as to state that they had no idea what the Uncharted movie was about, “let alone its tone.” The directness of Druckmann’s response seems like he’s distancing himself from the film. Though that shouldn’t be surprising, considering how long the Uncharted film has been in development, with several scripts and directors coming and going, resulting in no release date.

The latest iteration of the Uncharted film is slated to begin filming in late spring, directed by Real Steel and Stranger Things director Shawn Levy.


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