Director David O. Russell To Go Uncharted?

We last heard about Sony's upcoming Uncharted film back in November, when we found out that Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (Sahara, Conan) had been tapped to write a script based on the bestselling PS3 video game. Now, from the LATimes, we've learned that David O. Russell is on the producers' list of possible directors for the film.

My immediate reaction is that this is a terrible idea. First of all, you can count me as one of those who think that an Uncharted film is completely unnecessary. The original game and its recent sequel are among my favorite video games of all time, but the game is also relentlessly derivative. Its strength and its charm were in how it effortlessly fused together elements of adventure films we've seen dozens of times before with addictive action-adventure gameplay. A film adaptation just feels like it'd be redundant.

But even if I thought that a film adaptation was an amazing idea, Russell's movies have always felt to me like they are just slightly too serious for their own good. I'm apprehensive about how he'd handle this property, which has always had an air of wonder and whimsy. Still, as Steven Zeitchik from the Times points out, we live in an age where Rob Marshall is directing the next Pirates film and Bill Condon is helming Breaking Dawn. Heck, Sam Mendes was going to direct the next Bond film, so I guess anything is possible.

For some idea of the game's tone, here's the trailer for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I can't wait for the next one.