Just recently it was reported that star Natalie Portman and director David O. Russell were stepping away from the adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and it didn’t take Russell long to jump on board with another movie.

Sony Pictures has officially announced that Russell will be writing and directing the video game adaptation of the very popular Sony Computer Entertainment and developer Naughty Dog title, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. The project was first announced back in June of 2009, but hasn’t had the best luck with bringing everything together.

It was first revealed that Kyle Ward, who was already working on scripts for Kane & Lynch and Hitman 2 movies, would be the man for this job as well. A handful of months later, however, we found out that due to his commitment to Hitman, Ward would be heavily delayed on penning Uncharted, which Sony wanted to put get moving as quickly as possible. Instead of waiting, the studio hired two new writers in Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, but clearly that didn’t work out quite the way they had hope, either.

Now, with the announcement of David O. Russell as both writer and director, fans of the games should be able to breathe a slight sigh of relief. We all know the reputation of video game-to-movie ventures, and it’s absolutely reassuring to see Sony trying to make sure they have the right guy for the job.

Russell has previously written and directed I Heart Huckabees and Three Kings, and he directed the upcoming drama, The Fighter, which recently released an impressive first trailer.

Columbia Pictures president, Matt Tolmach, had this to say about the announcement:

It’s this combination of talents that should bode well for a Drake’s Fortune movie. The game follows Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter descendant of explorer Sir Francis Drake who finds himself on an incredible journey seeking out the lost treasure of El Dorado. And unlike other games trying to find life on the big screen — such as BioShock, for example — the main character here is painted well. Filmmakers won’t need to figure out a way to create a sufficient character from one who doesn’t speak; Nathan Drake is already an appealing, funny, and well-rounded character who swims in the same rivers as proven and successful characters like Indiana Jones.

I’ve said it before and will gladly say it again: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune oozes cinematic qualities, and if handled properly, this adaptation could break the mold for video game movies. This has franchise written all over it…so long as someone nails this first movie.

Now…can we just hurry up and cast Nathan Fillion for this. Please? All in favor?

[Source: /Film]