'The Last of Us' movie stuck at a standstill says Sam Raimi

BY JIM VEJVODA I attended a press lunch today for the upcoming home video release of Don't Breathe, during which time I was able to ask producer Sam Raimi about the status of the big screen version of the hit video game The Last of Us. And what he had to tell us wasn't very hopeful.


The movie was formally announced in March 2014 as being a Screen Gems release. The screenplay was penned by Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann, the Creative Director for the game, who is also a producer on the film along with Raimi and his Ghost House Pictures company, Naughty Dog Co-Presidents' Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra, and Game Director Bruce Straley. In the ensuing years since that announcement, there were rumblings of Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams being courted to star and subsequent comments from Druckmann that the movie would boast "big changes" from the game's story.


Then this past April we learned some bad news about the film adaptation. During our chat with Neil Druckmann, he told IGN, "I know I said in an interview a while back we had a table read, got the script to a good place and it kind of entered development hell like these things tend to do. ... There hasn't been any work done on it in over a year and a half."


I asked Raimi today about Druckmann's comments and what the current status of the film was, which led to a dissection of how the film appears to have stalled over at Screen Gems' parent company Sony Pictures.

Said Raimi, "Well, unfortunately that one -- when we went to Neil with Ghost House Pictures we were hoping to get the rights like we do any project and then we'd take it out and sell it but we'd control the rights. With this one he went to Sony -- who I have a very good relationship with -- but they have their own plans for it and I think Neil's plan for it -- I'm not trying to be political -- Neil's plan for it is not the same as Sony's. And because my company doesn't have the rights, I actually can't help him too much. Even though I'm one of the producers on it the way he set it up, he sold his rights to Sony, Sony hired me as a producer by chance, and I can't get the rights free for him so I'm not in the driver's seat and I can't tell you what Sony and Neil together will decide on. If they do move forward I'd love to help them again."

When I pressed if Raimi was still attached to help produce the Last of Us movie, he replied, "Yes, I'm attached to it. I'm not too sure what that means. Right now it's just sitting there. They don't want to move forward, and it's not my place to say why, and Neil, I think, is in a slight disagreement with them about how things should go so there's a standstill. And I don't have the power to move it."

IGN.com

Damn it Sony, quit being stubborn and just let Neil Druckman do his thing already.

Sony's 'Uncharted' movie gets a director

Uncharted has set its course by finding a director.

Night at the Museum’s Shawn Levy will direct Sony’s adaptation of the popular video game franchise, EW has confirmed. Joe Carnahan, who’s directing Bad Boys for Life with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, penned the most recent version of the script. No release date has been pinned yet after the studio moved it from its June 30, 2017 slot.

The Uncharted franchise tracks adventurer Nathan Drake and his world travels hunting for artifacts and treasure. Naughty Dog and Sony’s series has garnered acclaim for its four games. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End holds a 93 aggregate rating on Metacritic, tabbed as having received “universal acclaim.”

Levy is on a roll right now. He directed two episodes and executive produced Netflix’s sleeper hit Stranger Things. He also produced the upcoming Denis Villeneuve sci-fi picture Arrival starring Amy Adams, which has picked up tons of buzz on the film festival circuit.

ew.com

No mention of Neil Druckman anywhere...hmmm.

Also no news on who will play the role of Ellie.  I'm becoming less and less confident this will turn into anything good.

But given how many script writers and changes this project has already gone though, who knows maybe they'll find a way to make it half decent in the end. 

Neil Druckman has to be there, otherwise they shouldn't even bother. That's like having The Walking Dead without Robert Kirkman.  Unthinkable.

Naughty Dog's Neil Drruckmann offers update on "Uncharted" & "The Last of Us" movies

Plans to make movie adaptations of Naughty Dog's franchises Uncharted and The Last of Us are still in the works, though neither will be hitting the big screen in the near future.

During a press event showcasing gameplay for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, IGN had a chance to speak with game director Neil Druckmann (who also wrote The Last of Us' movie script) and ask for updates on the two projects. According to him, Naughty Dog has only been "somewhat involved" in the development of the Uncharted film, which Sony currently has slated for a June 30, 2017 release date.


"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," Druckman said, adding, "That's where we're at. Last I heard is they got a new screenwriter, but we haven't seen anything in a while."

According to Druckmann, the first step to making an Uncharted movie work is to make sure the core relationship between Elena, Nate and Sully is as good as it can be.

"Our approach is just to steer them back to those relationships," he explained. "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."


As for The Last of Us movie, Druckmann's update might disappoint fans: there's no update to give.

"I know I said in an interview a while back we had a table read, got the script to a good place and it kind of entered development hell like these things tend to do," he said. "There hasn't been any work done on it in over a year and a half."

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, the fourth and final Nathan Drake adventure, hits store shelves on May 10.

ign.com

Well, that's disappointing. 

Hope Sony works something out and involves Naughty Dog, or I doubt the movies will be very good.

"Uncharted" movie gets delayed again

Sony has decided to take its upcoming Uncharted film in a new direction, prompting the departure of director Seth Gordon from the project.

According to The Wrap, the video game-to-film adaptation is undergoing some creative changes, as Sony chief Tom Rothman has opted to make some alterations rather than cut the film's budget.

This seems to contradict a report from Heroic Hollywood (which has since been confirmed by EW) which claims that the project is currently in "development hell" because Rothman proposed the film be created on a smaller budget, which conflicts with Sony's vision. "Sony was hoping this was their Indiana Jones and Rothman is looking at it like Resident Evil," says HH.

The movie was supposed to start filming early this year, but that obviously didn't happen. Sony is apparently looking for a big name star to play the lead role, though Chris Pratt has reportedly passed on the offer.

ign.com

Assassin's Creed movie to start filming in September

The upcoming Assassin's Creed movie, which recently entered production, will begin shooting in September. That's according to lead actor Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, 12 Years a Slave), who will star in the movie alongside Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception).

Addressing the movie's long production cycle in an interview with ComingSoon, Fassbender said developing scripts and fleshing them out is often an extended, lengthy process.

“It just takes time to get a good story together and we really want to do it right," he explained. "It's exciting. It's going to start this year; we'll be filming in September."

Also in the interview, Fassbender was asked which character from the Assassin's Creed series he will play in the movie. It's been suggested that he'll portray Desmond Miles, but Fassbender said with a smile: “You don't know that. Don't listen to what they tell you; that's the first rule."


Ubisoft hasn't shared anything in the way of official plot details for the Assassin's Creed movie. The franchise has visited all manner of different time periods and settings, and this is part of the challenge that producers are currently facing, Fassbender said.

"There are so many elements to it, so trying to translate that to an audience, you have to pick key things," he said. "So yes, that is part of it, getting through the density of it and paring down and engaging a simple story."

The Assassin's Creed movie, produced by New Regency and 20th Century Fox, will hit theaters on December 21, 2016. That's one week after the first Star Wars spinoff movie hits cinemas. Directing is Justin Kurzel, who directed Fassbender and Cotillard in the latest theatrical adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Though the Assassin's Creed movie won't arrive until 2016, fans of the stealth-action series are getting a new game this year in the form of Assassin's Creed Victory, which is set in Victorian era London, according to a recent leak.

Ubisoft is working on five other movies based on its games at the moment: Far Cry, Rabbids, Watch Dogs,Splinter Cell, and Ghost Recon. In all instances, Ubisoft will retain creative control through its Ubisoft Motion Pictures group.

gamespot.com

I really hope they can do this franchise  justice, but realistically we might end up with something Prince of Persia like.

Also why commit to so many other projects when you don't even know if this one will work yet Ubisoft?.  I guess they're going for trail and error. 

Ubisoft gets green light for Assassins Creed movie out in 2016

Ubisoft has announced that the much-discussed Assassin's Creed film has finally been greenlit and is now in production.

Ubisoft announced a deal with New Regency for an Assassin's Creed film back in 2012, which included Michael Fassbender signing on as the lead actor. Since then the status of the movie has been in question, due in part to a delay in the projected release.

Today during Ubisoft's third-quarter fiscal earnings call, the publisher offered an update, announcing that the film has officially been greenlit and is now in production. Ubisoft says the film is on track to meet its new 2016 release date, which was announced last month.



Our Track
I still have plenty of reservations about whether or not Hollywood can make an Assassin's Creed movie that doesn't suck, but I respect Michael Fassbender's work, and it's good to hear that Ubisoft and New Regency are confident enough in the script to finally greenlight the project. Then again, Ubisoft also signed off on the Prince of Persia film, and we saw how that turned out...

gameinformer.com

Yes let's hope it's better then Prince of Persia, because compared to that; Tomb Raider was a bigger success (although let's face it that was mostly thanks to Angelina Jolie).

The Last of Us movie has "pretty big changes", but still faithful to the game says Neil Druckmann

The upcoming feature film based on Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic action game The Last of Us won't follow the 2013 title's story exactly, but it will capture its overall tone, according to Neil Druckmann. He directed the game and is working with Sony to write the upcoming movie.

In an interview with Game Informer, Druckmann was asked how faithful the movie will be to the game. He replied: "Pretty faithful to the game. There are some big changes, but the tone and what the story's trying to say is pretty faithful to the game."

As for how the script itself is shaping up, Druckmann said it's coming along "really well," noting that he's already finished a second draft. He went on to say that the production team has already done a table read with "a bunch of actors," though he didn't say if Maisie Williams was one of them.

The Game of Thrones actress is reportedly a frontrunner for the role of Ellie. It's unclear who will play Joel, or any of the other characters, in the forthcoming film. Additionally, no director has been announced, though Spider-Man veteran Sam Raimi is confirmed to be producing it.



In addition to writing the script for the Last of Us movie, Druckmann is co-directing upcoming PlayStation 4game Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Asked how he's splitting his time between both projects, his response suggested he hasn't been getting much sleep lately.

"When I'm in the office, it's all Uncharted 4 all the time," he said. "When I should be sleeping, it's the Uncharted movie." The interviewer then corrected him. "Yeah, sorry, The Last of Us movie."

An Uncharted movie is also in the works, but Druckmann made it clear that he's not writing that movie.

The Last of Us was released in June 2013 for PlayStation 3, while a Remastered version of the game later arrived for PS4. The game tells a post-apocalyptic story of a man (Joel) and a young women (Ellie) who are fighting to survive against humans and other deadly creatures.

gamespot.com

"Uncharted" movie still struggling to find the right team

The Uncharted series is one of my favorite video game franchises of all time, and I’ve been very interested in Sony’s attempts to bring the story of Nathan Drake to the big screen.

The games tell a tale that seems tailor made for the movies, but it feels that way largely because the game itself has so many blockbuster movie influences (Indiana Jones, mainly). As with any video game movie, it’s going to be a tough nut to crack because you’re jumping from a medium in which a player has active control of the character to one in which the player becomes a passive viewer.


For those who don’t know, the game charts the journey of the wise-cracking protagonist Nathan Drake, a supposed descendant of the explorer Sir Francis Drake, who is on a quest to uncover the lost treasure of El Dorado. He’s joined by journalist Elena Fisher and his mentor, Victor Sullivan, and the gang eventually discovers a long-kept secret that threatens to upend everything they hold dear.


THR reports that Oscar-winning screenwriter Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) is the latest writer to board this film, which already has a release date scheduled for June 10, 2016. The King of Kong helmer Seth Gordon is directing, but the movie still hasn’t found a leading man – word is that the studio made an offer to Chris Pratt, but he passed. 

(Which I think is a wise choice – he likely doesn’t want to get pigeonholed as the sarcastic action movie guy, and he may already be a little too close to that with his work in Guardians of the Galaxy and the upcoming Jurassic World.) 

Mark Wahlberg was once attached when David O. Russell was going to write and direct, but both of those guys eventually moved on to other things.

Boal joins a long line of writers who have taken a crack at this project, including Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (Doctor Strange), David Guggenheim (Safe House), and Cormac and Marianne Wibberley (National Treasure).

He’s reportedly a big fan of the game, so perhaps he’ll be the guy who can get this script in shape before filming begins. We’ll keep you posted as things progress, but in the meantime, let us know if you’re looking forward to the Unchartedmovie in the comments below. Who should play Nathan Drake?.

geeknation.com

"The Last of Us" movie still in infancy stages but on track

With “The Last of Us,” Naughty Dog craftsman Neil Druckmann helped create one of the most emotionally affecting survival games ever released.


Now, as he writes the script for Screen Gems’ upcoming big screen adaptation of “The Last of Us,” he’s endeavoring to make the first truly great video game movie.


Druckmann and filmmaker Sam Raimi, who will produce the film through his Ghost House Pictures banner, surprised the Hall H crowd at Comic-Con International in San Diego on Friday morning with a presentation devoted to the project, which is still in its nascent stages, hoping to stoke fan excitement for its upcoming adaptation of the apocalyptic survival game.


“The Last of Us” was one of the most widely lauded games of 2013. The story tracks Joel, who is hired to smuggle a 14-year-old girl, Ellie, out of a quarantine zone, but their personalities clash as they traverse the once-familiar terrain of Boston, which has become all plant life and crumbling buildings in the wake of an infection that has decimated the human populace.


The intimate character moments between the two leads was one of the things that hooked Raimi, who described himself as a gamer when addressing the audience, and he also stressed that a “Last of Us” movie would closely hew to the game.


“It doesn’t need to be different,” Raimi said. “It just needs to capture the core of what made ‘The Last of Us’ special to so many fans.”


Both Druckmann and Raimi promised a “laser focus” on Joel and Ellie’s relationship in “The Last of Us.” Although the film has yet to be cast and a director yet to be hired, Druckmann mentioned that he had met with “Game of Thrones” actress Maisie Williams, who plays the headstrong Arya Stark on the HBO fantasy, about the role of Ellie.


Raimi, a favorite among the Comic-Con set for his “Evil Dead” movies and his “Spider-Man” trilogy, said at the panel that he was currently at work on an “Evil Dead” TV show, though he shared few details about that project.


At the end of the Hall H session, Raimi received an Inkpot Award, celebrating his many contributions to the “popular arts.” The surprised director exclaimed “What the heck?” before accepting the prize with by saying, he was “honored to be a fan and be one of you guys.”


latimes.com


Arya Stark as Ellie?. That could work!.

Though if they really want to go for likeness in the looks department Ellen Page is a no- brainer!.

"Uncharted" movie finally coming to a theatre near you June 2016

Sony has moved around some dates in its movie schedule, making room for Nathan Drake’s big screen debut. Sony announced today that it will be releasing the film adaptation of Naughty Dog’s action series on June 10, 2016.


That date originally belonged to The Amazing Spider-Man 3, which Sony has now bumped back by two years. Spider-Man fans won’t be left out in the cold though, as Sony is planning a Sinister Six film for November 11, 2016.


Uncharted director Seth Gordon plans to start shooting in early 2015, though there’s no lead attached to the film yet. The screenplay is currently being written by David Guggenheim.


Uncharted will next appear on PlayStation 4 in 2015, and there are hints that it might be the last entry in the series. For more check out the Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End trailer from E3.


[Source: Deadline Hollywood, Hollywood Reporter]


gameinformer.com


A lot of people seem to want Nathan Fillion to play Nathan Drake, and I have to agree that would work well. It's either him, or the original voice behind the character Nolan North.

'The Last of Us' video game to be made into a movie

It states that Screen Gems has gained rights to distribute a live-action film of The Last of Us with a script penned by the game's writer and creative director Neil Druckmann. Also tied to the project from Naughty Dog will be its co-presidents Evan Wells and Christope Balestra along with the game's co-director Bruce Straley. Director Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spider-Man) and his company Ghost House Pictures will be involved with the movie.


"Since our game released last June, we’ve talked with many companies about making a film, but we couldn’t have found better partners who share our creative vision and high standards," Naughty Dog's Evan Wells said, speaking about their collaboration with Screen Gems and Ghost House.


The movie's logline is described:


Hardened survivor Joel teams with young and capable companion Ellie to journey through a radically transformed world some 20 years after an infectious pandemic ravages humanity. The game has won numerous awards and has been a big seller since its release last summer.


The game won numerous awards indeed, even becoming GT's Game of the Year for 2013. Do you think it will translate well to the big screen?


gametrailers.com


YES! Best. News. Ever. Wonder who they'll cast as Joel and Ellie. Hope 'Uncharted' still gets made one day soon.

"Uncharted" the movie might still become reality?

Naughty Dog, developer of action-adventure third-person shooter Uncharted, has asked Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to write the script for the Uncharted movie, according to the duo.

In an interview with IGN for his latest movie, This Is The End, Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, director, Seth Rogen said, “They’re constantly asking me and Evan to make the Uncharted movie.”

Evan Goldberg, Canadian film screenwriter and producer said, “They’ve been asked multiple times over the last four years, but have declined the job, despite being huge fans of the games, because they can’t think of the right treatment.

“It’s just going to be Indiana Jones,” If we could figure out a way to make it not Indiana Jones, it’d be awesome.”

In 2010, Columbia Pictures revealed by that David O. Russell will be writing and directing the film, but on May 26, 2011, Russell left the project.

And in July 2011, Neil Burger took up the position as the director for the film adaption, but dropped out in August 2012 to work on another film and the studio hired the Marianne and Cormac Wibberley (writers of National Treasure and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle) to rewrite the film, that’s all we know for now.

lastestnesexplorer.com

Mark Wahlberg to play "Uncharted" movie title character?

I've been hearing about the possible movie rumors for this great game for the past few years.  Well, now it looks like it might finally become a reality.


Mark Wahlberg is no stranger to starring in movies based on video games -- he played the title role in the 2008 adaptation of the first-person shooter game "Max Payne." 

And he's also quite comfortable to working with writer-director David O. Russell -- they've collaborated together on "Three Kings," "I Heart Huckabees" and this year's Oscar hopeful "The Fighter," about boxer "Irish" Mickey Ward.

So it makes perfect sense that Wahlberg is now set to tackle the lead role of adventurer Nathan Drake in "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune," the hot-ticket video-game adaptation that Russell is writing and directing. Wahlberg -- who was recently named one of MTV's actors we're most thankful for in 2010 -- confirmed as much when we caught up with him at the junket for "The Fighter."

"David is one of the best writer/directors I've ever worked with," Wahlberg told MTV. "The idea that he has is just insane. So hopefully we'll be making that movie this summer."


And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Walhberg also confirmed rumors that Russell is writing roles for acting heavies (and "Goodfellas" costars) Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. "I'm obviously in whatever David wants to do, but the idea of it is so off the charts: De Niro being my father, Pesci being my uncle. It's not going to be the watered-down version, that's for sure."

While Pesci and De Niro have yet to commit to the film, Wahlberg says that he has talked to Pesci about the role, and that De Niro has also been contacted. 

Sure, Drake's dad and uncle don't appear in the game, but we're betting they'll be there to shed some light on the Drake family's supposed relation to renowned explorer Sir Francis Drake.

For the uninitiated, "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" charts the globetrotting adventurer's search for the treasure of El Dorado. Sounds like box-office gold.

mtv movies blog

After finally getting myself a PS3 around this time last year I absolutely fell in love with the Uncharted franchise.  I like it so much that I compare every game I've gotten since then to this game's standards.

So far the only thing that's even come close is Assassin's Creed (could be partly due to the fact that it's voiced by the same actor).

Mark Wahlberg is not who I imagined as the main character, but who knows it just might work, providing the script has the right amount of witty jokes and banter not to mention plenty of action.

The Prince of Persia movie was not too bad (Jake Gyllenhaal wouldn't have been my first choice either but he pulled it off).  Hopefully Mark can do the same.