Uncharted movie loses director

Yet another game-to-film adaptation has hit a stumbling block, as Variety reports that Oscar-winning director David O. Russell has cut ties with the big-screen version of Uncharted, citing "creative differences." The Hollywood trade reports that the split was amicable.

Russell's departure likely means that the casting of big names like Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, and Robert DeNiro in key roles--while never officially confirmed--is likely to be redone. In February, the director said that he wanted to be respectful of the source material, but added that his goal as a filmmaker was to "create a world that is worthy of a really great film that people want to watch and rewatch."

Russell's name surfaced in relation to the Uncharted movie last May, when he was simply being considered as an option to helm the project. While it was reported that negotiations between Sony and Russell fell through in the following months, the two sides apparently worked out their initial differences, with the director's frequent collaborator Wahlberg confirming his participation in the project in November.

Uncharted joins a number of other gaming franchises to hit hurdles on the way to Hollywood. Most notably, the Peter Jackson-produced Halo film wound up in limbo after budgetary concerns surfaced, while Kane & Lynch, Dark Void, Army of Two, BioShock, Wolfenstein, and many others have started--but not yet finished--the adaptation process.