Nathan Fillion

"Castle" and "Firefly" star Nathan Fillion has tweeted fans to help him get cast as Nathan Drake in the upcoming video game adaptation "Drake’s Fortune" for Sony Pictures.

On the surface the 39-year-old Canadian actor seems a perfect fit - he’s got charisma to burn, an established fan base (650,000 followers on Twitter alone), he can convincingly pull off the action stunts required, he has a physical resemblance to the character, and his onscreen sense of humour is very similar to Drake.

The only catch, aside from Fillion’s hectic "Castle" production schedule, could be age. The film is seen as the first of a franchise and so the studio will usually go for someone younger (late 20’s/early 30’s) which also seems to be the game character’s age.

That approach can backfire though, look at the derision "Superman Returns" received for casting 22-year-old Kate Bosworth as a Pulitzer Prize-winning veteran journalist complete with a pre-teen kid. Fillion is also much closer to the real age of any person in Drake’s profession.

The critically acclaimed PS3 game series follows fortune hunter Nathan Drake and his quest for famed archaeological treasures. Though the concept sounds familiar (ie. "Tomb Raider," "Indiana Jones"), the smart execution, clever scripting and witty voice performances often raised it above the level of many other titles of its kind.

David O. Russell ("Three Kings") directs the project which will likely be a Summer 2012 tentpole for the studio.