After many years of teasing a Last Of Us movie, the acclaimed video game will now be adapted for the small screen….
Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin will once again work with director Johan Renck on his The Last of Us HBO show, it’s been confirmed. The award-winning writer is focusing on the TV adaptation for the video game, which was previously poised for movie development after it debuted in 2013. The game’s writer and creative director, Neil Druckmann, will help Mazin with the series.
Renck says the team are finding it awkward to envision a leading man for the series after Troy Baker inhabited the role so memorably in the game.
“You have a video game character who’s very much top of mind with anybody who’s ever played that game. More than that, they know exactly what he looks like, how he talks, how he acts, and so on and so forth.
“So with the The Last of Us, this is something that we’re discussing. We’re having weekly calls, Craig and I and also Neil [Druckmann] who created the game, about various approaches and how to deal with that. How to deal with the fact that a video game character is way further than a character from a book. But also it’s more different to deal with than a real person.
“This is something that we spent a lot of time talking about here and in the early development stages of this process. There are a lot of things to take into consideration and a lot of decisions and choices to be made in various ways without saying anything more about it.”
The Last of Us has sold more than than 17 million copies since its original release via Naughty Dog. It tells the post-apocalyptic story of smuggler Joel, who is tasked with retrieving teen Ellie from a quarantined area. She may be the key to a cure for a pandemic, but the journey they find themselves on together is not an easy one.
“Neil Druckmann is without question the finest storyteller working in the video game medium, and The Last of Us is his magnum opus,” Mazin said when he agreed to take on the project. “Getting a chance to adapt this breathtaking work of art has been a dream of mine for years, and I’m so honoured to do it in partnership with Neil.”
“From the first time I sat down to talk with Craig I was equally blown away by his approach to narrative and his love and deep understanding of The Last of Us,” said Druckmann. “With Chernobyl, Craig and HBO created a tense, harrowing, emotional masterpiece. I couldn’t think of better partners to bring the story of The Last of Us to life as a television show.”