The Idea of petitioning to cast an actor in a Hollywood film is ridiculous. Regardless of the film, the director must be responsible for primary casting, free from influence by the fans or the studio.
David O Russell is a respectable Director, especially since his Oscar nod for The Fighter (one which should have been given to Christopher Nolan for Inception). It remains to be seen if he can direct a straight action film. He will to have to change Uncharted a lot, it may be a revolutionary game but it is not very original in terms of cinematography or narrative.
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| Mark Wahlberg would be great with Emily Rose, am I out on a limb with this one? |
The announcement that Mark Wahlberg would be cast as Nathan Drake was met with disbelief. After petitioning for Nathan Fillion to get the role it was seen like a slap in the face. This is probably because many gamers associate Wahlberg with Max Payne. All actors get involved in bad films at some time in their career. Wahlberg was unlucky enough to be in a bad film with a big fan-base. (I would liken this to Hayden Christiensen in Star Wars, but he is just a bad actor). Boogie Nights, The Departed and now The Fighter all demonstrate that Wahlberg can turn in a solid, subtle and intense performance. More importantly David O Russell has a better track record than John Moore and I think they will be conscious of the critical and box office failure of Max Payne (Moore has not directed since.)
The success of The Fighter in the Oscar nominations should be a good thing for Uncharted. Columbia pictures will now be keen to cash in on the profile of Wahlberg and O Russel. Hopefully this should translate into O Russel getting greater artistic freedom. This is important because big changes have to be made. A great game doest necessarily translate into a great film and the same can be said of books and films.
Nathan Fillion could never have been Drake, the creative process is not democratic and that’s a good thing. I personally would have like to see Emily Rose get a chance to reprise her role as Elena Fisher but its unrealistic. There’s a bigger picture to be considered. Tron: Legacy was made on positive reaction to the teaser trailer and for all its good will to the fan-base it was boring. The Uncharted film carries a weight of expectation. In its current hands, its probably got the best chance of success you could hope for.
