'Uncharted' movie loses director Seth Gordon

Sony has been dreaming of an Uncharted movie for years now. The popular series of videogames feels uniquely primed for the bigscreen treatment: The adventures of treasure-hunting rascal thief Nathan Drake are pulpy globe-trotting adventures in the spirit of the Indiana Jones franchise, and each game in the series combines mythological grandeur with genuine wit and characterization. There’s been an Uncharted movie in some state of development for years now: At one point, David O. Russell was lining up to direct Mark Wahlberg as Drake; after Russell left to pursue Oscar glory, Neil Burger attached and then detached from the film.

Last year, Sony hired Horrible Bosses director Seth Gordon, which makes more sense when you remember that Horrible Bosses director Seth Gordon used to be The King of Kong director Seth Gordon. In November, the studio hired Zero Dark Thirty scribe Mark Boal to rewrite the script, presumably because Boal has experience with fantastical and wildly unrealistic global thrillers. And now, EW has confirmed the report from Heroic Hollywood that Gordon has parted ways with the Uncharted film.

The movie had, at one point, been aiming for a 2016 release date, but that was before last year’s Sony hack and a generally tough financial year led to a regime change at the company. The movie is still apparently in development, although it obviously needs a new director. (Maybe Jon Watts?) The Uncharted videogame franchise remains a strong brand for Sony: The first three games have collectively sold over 21 million copies, and next year brings Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.