Mark Wahlberg In Uncharted Territory

 

Since the game came out, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune adaptation rumors have been flying around, and fans of the series rejoiced earlier this year when Sony announced they’d be moving forward with the project, with David O. Russell as the director. Of course, anyone who played the game will have their own idea of who should play the lead role of Nathan Drake, but I guarantee you that not a single one of them would have picked Mark Wahlberg. 

 

In a recent interview with MTV, Wahlberg confirmed the rumor that he’s accepted the role from The Fighter director Russell, whom he also worked with on I Heart Huckabees. One question Russell and Wahlberg have failed to answer though, is “WHAT THE HELL, DUDES?!” There’s no reason that this role should go to Mark Wahlberg. Don’t get me wrong, I like him, and I think he occasionally shows some talent as an actor, but there’s one man for this job, and anti-fans will crucify me for saying it, but it’s Nathan Fillion.

I disagre already, Wahlberg has leaked a few tidbits about the story that won’t make purists happy, as Russell seems to be adding a father and uncle role to the movie that don’t exist in the game, with the roles to be played by Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci.  It’s not the end of the world, but it’s an early warning that he won’t have any problem veering away from the source material. He does say that Russell is working on an insane idea that won’t be watered down so hopefully if he does simply take the character and place him into a completely unique situation, he’ll do something good with it.

The Uncharted series, for those not familiar, comprises two games so far, in the form of Drake's Fortune and Among Thieves, both of which follow the globe-trotting adventures of Nathan Drake as he searches for lost treasure. The thrust is a bit Indiana Jones, a bit Tomb Raider, and, to be honest, a bit National Treasure, with the added pleasure of extreme violence: the body count on both games can't be far short of four figures.

Last time Wahlberg turned out for a videogame adaptation, the result was the less-than-enthusiastically received Max Payne.

 

 

Mark Wahlberg can make it work, but there’s a million other actors this should have gone to.