Uncharted film "going back to the game"

New Uncharted movie director Neil Burger is going back to the PlayStation exclusive video game for inspiration.

The Limitless and The Illusionist director told Crave Online the new team is "starting from scratch" on the script following previous director David O. Russell's acrimonious exit.

"No, I haven't seen his screenplay on it," he said. "Mainly we're beginning from scratch and going back to the video game. Because there's a lot of cool stuff, actually, from the videogame, if you know it…

"It's really one of the most cinematic video games, and one that has really developed characters. So, you know, there's a lot of cool, really intense things that, if they work for the film's story, I want to use them."

Burger's comments are sure to enthuse Uncharted fans who were concerned by the direction Russell was taking the film before he walked out.

Russell's vision for the film would have seen Mark Wahlberg's Nathan Drake as a member of a family of antique traders that also included father Robert De Niro and uncle Joe Pesci.

Burger's vision, however, appears closer to video game developer Naughty Dog's virtual world.

Explaining the difference between Uncharted and Indiana Jones, Burger said the video game was very "now".

"Indiana Jones is nostalgic. It takes place in the 1930s, and the later ones are a little bit later, and it kind of plays on that nostalgia. Whereas Uncharted is very much up to the minute, of the moment. It's very 'now' and contemporary and it has this sort of rough and very intense feel that a movie like The Bourne Identity has.

"It's really up to date in its own way. The Bourne Identity isn't your father's Cold War movie and this is a very different kind of treasure hunt movie. It's very real and it has kind of an insane, wild feeling that comes out of the character; Nate being this con man and a bit of a hustler, living by his wits, ballsy and capable of anything."

Will Burger cast Nathan Fillion in the role of Drake, as so many fans wish?

"He's a good actor," Burger said. "I think there's a lot of really good actors who don't even look like [Nathan Drake] who could play it! Where we are right now is that we're literally starting from scratch on the screenplay, and I think that once we finish it, then we'll go to actors and see who's available and who's right for the parts. Whenever that happens."