According to movie site Latino Review, Ward has been pulled off the flick. Sony and producer Avi Arad did not want to wait for Ward to contractually deliver drafts for other projects (like Hitman 2).

Instead, writing team Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, who penned the CONAN movie reboot, are being eyed as writers for the Uncharted flick. “At press time, negotiations are underway and it looks like a deal is imminent,” writes Latino Review. “Expect to hear it officially in the trades.”

News: Exclusive: Conan Writing Duo Chart Course For Drake’s Fortune! [Latino Review]

Game or film would be bad enough. Both together would be like multiplying zeroes. The Movie Blog drops word of Boll’s latest ambition, which is confusingly titled Bloodrayne 3: Warhammer. Yeah, I have no idea what that means, either, except maybe a C&D in the mail from Mythic Entertainment? Kristanna Loken is said to be back in the lead role.

I couldn’t track down what The Movie Blog was sourcing but this post says this movie will begin filming in January. Which means it’ll be finished in February. Or at least look like it.

Uwe Boll to Bring Us Bloodrayne 3: Warhammer [The Movie Blog via Joystiq]

For starters, Roger Avary – who wrote the first movie – may not return. He’s, uh, busy. And while we don’t know which cast members, if any, will be returning, Carmody confirms that Christophe Gans won’t be back in the director’s chair, as he “wants to direct something new”.

Carmody then opens up on the course the movie will take, while at the same time addressing some of the complaints fans of the series had over the first film’s tone and depiction of familiar characters.

“I think we need to make it a little more accessible to the movie-going public”, he told STYD. “Silent Hill is not a blockbuster game like Resident Evil or the other games out there. It’s a connoisseurs’ game. It has its own, rabid fan base. They’re not cheap, these things. You have to appeal not only to the gamers, you have to appeal to a wider audience. So we have to get some story in there that helps explain a bit more. I think that’s all happening. Of course, [the story] is going to happen years later and the main character – without giving too much away – is much older and representative to the movie-going public which is in that age group.”

EXCL: Producer Updates Us on Silent Hill 2 [STYD]

No, not the video game character. We’re still pretty good at discerning reality from fantasy. The voice of “Soap” in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, actor Kevin McKidd, tells the New York Post that “there are talks of a feature film” based on the franchise. Which is hardly concrete, but backs up previous speculation that, yes, a Call of Duty movie is happening.

It’s not really a question of if, but when, especially if Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward has more time on its hands to dedicate to side projects.

Exclusive: ‘Rome’ & ‘Call of Duty’ movies on! [NY Post]

That is according to Jeremy Bolt, who is Anderson’s co-producer on Resident Evil: Afterlife. Visiting that film’s set, the site ShockTillYouDrop.com says it spoke to Bolt, who “told us this morning that Paul W.S. Anderson is still circling video game adaptation Castlevania at Rogue Pictures and that they are waiting on a script.”

“Bolt added that he and Anderson would like to adapt Konami’s Metal Gear Solid for the big screen at Columbia Pictures,” ShockTillYouDrop.com added.

You can check out Paul W.S. Anderson’s filmography here but he ain’t no Bergman. Please note that none of this confirms Anderson has anything to do with the Metal Gear project.

Paul W.S. Anderson Still Circling Castlevania [ShockTillYouDrop.com]

But Ubisoft chairman Yves Guillemot has no such reservations.

Speaking to a group of investors and industry executives in New York today at the BMO Capital Markets digital entertainment conference, Guillemot says he has very high hopes for the movie.

Among the highlights for Ubisoft next year, Stephen Totilo reports from the event, should be the Prince of Persia which “will show what a video game property can do in the (movie) industry… What we hear is that it could maybe be stronger than Pirates (of the Caribbean) which did $US2.7 billion dollars worldwide.”

If they don’t stick their head in the sand.

Gyllenhaal recalls one scene in the flick with real live ostriches — “not CG ostriches”. According to Jake and his chest, “There’s not a CG’ed ostrich in this movie. They’re all real ostriches, highly paid, and we were all briefed on them for weeks before like ‘They’re these massive destructive creatures that can tear your heart out with their claws.’”

Jake was shaking in his boots, he says. His chest was afraid, too.

“One of my stuntmen was in the ring with them, and finally,” he says, “I was like, ‘When am I going to be in a f—king cage with ostriches again in my life? I gotta get in here!’ So I got in there and they were the sweetest things.”

The birds were, most likely, hypnotised by his chest. Gyllenhaal adds that he hopes the ostriches come back for reshoots or the second Prince of Persia movie: “Well, hopefully ostriches will come back again… either in reshoots or hopefully in a second one.”

There’s going to be another Prince of Persia movie? Hope they call it, Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow, the Flame and the Ostriches.

Prince of Persia On Set Interviews: Jake Gyllenhaal and Gemma Arterton [Slash Film]

Director Paul W.S. Anderson is currently filming Resident Evil: Afterlife and star Milla Jovovich tweeted this tidbit: “Valentine MAY be back.” That also means she may not be back.

Perhaps, Guillory worked out her contract issues or perhaps the producers are bringing on another actress altogether to play Valentine.

Valentine to Return in Resident Evil: Afterlife? [ShockTillYouDrop.com]

Above is Jovovich, Ali Larter, Spencer Locke and Wentworth Miller. Below is a wider shot. Wondering who those people in white are?

“We call the people in white ‘pod people’ here on set,” she tweets. “They have been used as Umbrella ‘test subjects’ in horrifying experiments.” Resident Evil: Afterlife is currently filming (in 3D!) and will be out next summer.

Milla Jovovich (MillaJovovich) on Twitter [Twitter via ShockTillYouDrop]

The British trailer for the upcoming Prince of Persia movie is quite different to the American one. Theirs comes complete with not just new footage, but a handy voice-over as well.