‘Uncharted’ Movie Release Date Disappears From Sony Schedule; Is Joe Carnahan Becoming Director?

by Harvy / Sep 03, 2016 09:15 AM EDT

"Uncharted" movie removed from release schedule by Sony.

The long awaited film adaptation of Naughty Dog's "Uncharted" action adventure video game series has been dropped by Sony Pictures from its original plan of a June 2017 release date; this on the same day that the film's screenwriter Joe Carnahan teased about the film's opening sequence in textual form.

Coming Soon reported that Sony Pictures has dropped the planned "Uncharted" film from the company's release schedule; originally planned to release in June 30 next year, the film now has an unspecified release date. The turn-out of events is unsurprising, considering the film barely within the pre-production stage for now.

Another bit of news about the "Uncharted" film came out around the same time Sony dropped the film from its release schedule, with screenwriter Joe Carnahan teasing about his draft of the movie's script. Posting on Twitter, Carnahan said that "the opening scene for UNCHARTED...at least in script form, is really, REALLY GOOD." When asked by a fan for any possible peek at the draft's contents, Carnahan merely gave the words "action-heavy" as a reply.

"Uncharted" is a video game franchise by Naughty Dog developed as an exclusive to the PlayStation family of consoles. The series one of the most famous and universally acclaimed examples of the action adventure genre in recent history. The story revolves around treasure hunter Nathan "Nate" Drake, the descendant of legendary English Privateer Sir Francis Drake.

The first game in the series, "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" released back in 2007 for the PlayStation 3. "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" followed in 2009, which was in turn followed by "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" in 2011. Both Titles were also made for the PlayStation 3. The finale installment of the franchise, "Uncharted 4: A Thief's End," came out just this past May for the PlayStation 4 to universal acclaim.

A film adaptation of the series has long been in the works, though specific details have been scarce and any confirmed ones have since changed. Carnahan joined the project back in July as the screenwriter.

Speaking with Variety, Carnahan said that he "would love to" direct the "Uncharted" film but he unfortunately cannot due to the fact that he will also be directing the third installment in the "Bad Boys" film series which marks the reunion of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Were the production on "Uncharted" pushed back however, Carnahan said that he might be able to direct it then.

Now that Sony has curiously removed "Uncharted" from its original release date, which pretty much means that production has been pushed back, Carnahan could finally end up directing it depending on how the production of "Bad Boys 3" goes when it begins next year.