Says That Buddy Action Pic ‘Two Guns’ Won’t Happen Until After ‘Uncharted’
Despite the film still without a script (back in December writer/director David O. Russell said it was half done and he’s still working on it) casting ideas and story details continue to come fast and furious for “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune” for what promises to be one of the most high profile video game adaptations of all time.
The game follows Nathan Drake, a descendant of Sir Francis Drake and a treasure hunter, as he searches for the lost treasure of El Dorado, with the help of a journalist and much swashbuckling adventure ensues. The ever chatty director recently spoke to Empire (via ComingSoon) and tossed around an idea for who should fill the role of Elena, the journalist who helps Drake along the way.
After Empire suggested Amy Adams, Russell replied, “Oh I would love that too, I love Amy. I also love Scarlett Johansson; there’s a lot of great actors I think might suit.” So yeah, it appears to be nothing more than a wish at this point — much like the rest of the cast. But the idea of casting Johansson is not so left of field. Johansson was once attached to the road-trip comedy “Old St. Louis” that was set to shoot in the spring, but left due to scheduling conflicts with “The Avengers” and the film eventually fell apart. But clearly, Russell was impressed with ScarJo and things she’ll be a good fit for what he’s writing.
As you might recall, Russell has opened up the story of the video game and he plans to include “Drake’s extended family—and put them in fraught, globetrotting situations with some of the world’s most influential people.” And while names like Mark Wahlberg for the lead, and Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in supporting roles have been tossed around, they are not yet formalized. “I’d love Mark to be in it, I’d love Bob De Niro to be in it; I love the idea of growing them into a cinematic family; I think that’s a really cool idea, but… I guess you’ll have to wait until you see the script,” Russell said. And we don’t imagine anyone is signing until they read the thing.
As usual, Russell has a lot of other projects on the backburner in various stages of development, one of them being “2 Guns” a buddy action pic with Vince Vaughn attached (another actor eager to work with Russell; he was also attached to “Old St. Louis”), announced last month. Based on the graphic novel by Steven Grant, the film would follow two lawmen—a DEA agent and an undercover naval officer—who investigate each other as each have been tasked to steal mob money. Certainly sounds right in the Russell wheelhouse, but the director says it will have to wait a while.
“Well that’s a picture that I think would be fantastic to make, but I would like to look at the script and then we’ll take it from there… You know, a kind of a Butch and Sundance thing but in a contemporary setting – but even weirder because they don’t really know who the other person is, you know, so I think that could be a very cool project but we have to clear up ‘Uncharted’ first,” he said.
Lots of irons in the fire for Russell and you can check out “The Fighter” in theaters now and look for Russell at the Kodak Theater later this month where he hopes to upset the odds and take home his first Best Director statue.