The Last of Us' Series in the Works at HBO From 'Chernobyl' Creator Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann (Exclusive)
MARCH 05, 2020 9:30AMby*Borys Kit, Patrick Shanley
Craig Mazin, the creator of the acclaimed limited series*Chernobyl,*is reteaming with HBO adapt*The Last of Us, the massive Sony PlayStation video game franchise.
In a rare development in the world of video game adaptations, the writer and creative director of the game, Neil Druckmann, is also involved, and will work with Mazin to pen and executive produce what is intended to be a series.
Carolyn Strauss will also executive produce along with Evan Wells, the president of Naughty Dog, the Santa Monica-based developer of the game. The project is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television and in association with PlayStation Productions and it will be the first television series from PlayStation Productions.
Originally launched in 2013, Sony and Naughty Dog’s*The Last of Us*garnered critical praise for its engrossing tale of the post-apocalypse centered on the relationship between Joel, a smuggler in this new world, and Ellie, a teenager who may be a key to a cure for the deadly pandemic.
Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle the14-year-old girl out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival. The HBO series will cover the events of the original game, which was written by Druckmann, with the possibility of additional content based on the forthcoming game sequel,*The Last of Us Part II, which will release on May 29, 2020.
Mazin, who is said to be an avid player of the game, stated, “Neil Druckmann is without question the finest storyteller working in the video game medium, and*The Last of Us*is his magnum opus. Getting a chance to adapt this breathtaking work of art has been a dream of mine for years, and I’m so honored 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 in a statement. “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.”
Last of Us*won numerous “game of the year” awards and went on to sell more than 17 million copies across both its original release on the PlayStation 3 and a remastered version on the PlayStation 4.
“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to partner with Craig, Neil, Carolyn and the teams at Sony, Naughty Dog and PlayStation to bring the virtual world of this acclaimed game to life,” stated HBO programming president Casey Bloys.
“This is the first of many shows we intend to develop with our friends at PlayStation Productions,” said Chris Parnell, co-president of Sony Pictures Television Studios.*The Last of Us*is a brilliant achievement in storytelling and character development, and we are lucky to have the opportunity to work with this team to adapt it.”
Druckmann is a longtime vet of Naughty Dog, starting as a programming intern in 2004. In 2007, he was given the role of game designer on*Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, the first installment in the action adventure series. In 2013, he created*The Last of Us, based on a concept he developed as a student at Carnegie Mellon University.
Mazin’s*Chernobyl*tackled a bleak and complex true-life event and became a must-see show for HBO. The show won an Emmy for outstanding limited series and landed one for Mazin for outstanding writing. Mazin also won a PGA and a WGA Award.
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
I don't even think I can pick out my least favorite episode, because I think they've all been excellent. I don't get the complaining about a character building episode and it seems like people will bitch about that and then bitch about a different show because they didn't care enough about the characters. If you want non stop action, then watch a fucking Michael Bay movie.
Not that I'm homophobic, but they spent an entire episode developing two characters that don't make it past the episode (Frank and Bill). I understand they want back story and I've never played the game, but a lot of that episode just felt totally unnecessary. [Reply]
As a non-game-player, I was intrigued by this last episode. It fills in her background etc, and shows her getting infected. However, I still dont know the events about her not 'turning' and who finds out about her special status, and has the connections to put 2 and 2 together to think they need to send her some lab for a cure.
Also, I could see how a game player could have a disconnect with the show. A game is going to have a lot more 1st person shooter action -sort of the point of a game - work your way through the zombies. A movie that devoted the same percentage of time to zombie killing would be pretty two dimensional and boring. I think they are doing a good job of telling a story where the zombies are a danger to be accounted for, but not the main focus. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Zebedee DuBois:
As a non-game-player, I was intrigued by this last episode. It fills in her background etc, and shows her getting infected. However, I still dont know the events about her not 'turning' and who finds out about her special status, and has the connections to put 2 and 2 together to think they need to send her some lab for a cure.
Also, I could see how a game player could have a disconnect with the show. A game is going to have a lot more 1st person shooter action -sort of the point of a game - work your way through the zombies. A movie that devoted the same percentage of time to zombie killing would be pretty two dimensional and boring. I think they are doing a good job of telling a story where the zombies are a danger to be accounted for, but not the main focus.
I think the majority of game players are loving it. Some are wanting more action but like you said, you can't have 30 minutes of Joel crouching and stabbing 20 people and 40 zombies in the neck. It would make bad tv. They show has done an incredible job of telling the games story and changing just enough details to make it fresh but still tell the same story with the same outcomes. I'm incredibly impressed with how well they have pulled this off. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
Worst episode yet. That flashback could have been done in 10 min. Fluff.
Dude it was an awesome pass off to the DLC "Left Behind" content and was pulled off EXCELLENTLY! You need to see Ellie's pain to understand that she has a past just like Joel. Losing a loved one is the theme. [Reply]
Please understand this IS NOT "The Walking Dead" by any means. This is a STORY. It is the oath Joel made to Tess and a 14 year old who has never seen the outside world (even though it has been destroyed). It is a story of loss on both parties behalf and must form a "trust" between our 2 protagonists to hopefully reach a concerted effort to save mankind from the infected that has taken control of the world. It is a sit back and relax adventure to see what perils lie ahead to reach said goal. :-) [Reply]
Originally Posted by luv:
Not that I'm homophobic, but they spent an entire episode developing two characters that don't make it past the episode (Frank and Bill). I understand they want back story and I've never played the game, but a lot of that episode just felt totally unnecessary.
The letter that Joel and Ellie find in Bill's house is a pretty integral to the rest of the story in the TV show. Every scene with Bill and Frank where they meet, create and live a life and then die together was meant to provide more gravity to the message in that letter and the hope for the future that Ellie can provide.
Originally Posted by :
I used to hate the world and I was happy when everyone died. But I was wrong. Because there was one person worth saving. That's what I did: I saved him. And I protected him. That's why men like you and me are here: We have a job to do. And God help any motherfuckers who stand in our way.
The letter and this episode is 1000x better than what they did in the game. Although it does still have the scene where Ellie finds the porn mag in the truck which was pretty funny. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Zebedee DuBois:
As a non-game-player, I was intrigued by this last episode. It fills in her background etc, and shows her getting infected. However, I still dont know the events about her not 'turning' and who finds out about her special status, and has the connections to put 2 and 2 together to think they need to send her some lab for a cure.
Also, I could see how a game player could have a disconnect with the show. A game is going to have a lot more 1st person shooter action -sort of the point of a game - work your way through the zombies. A movie that devoted the same percentage of time to zombie killing would be pretty two dimensional and boring. I think they are doing a good job of telling a story where the zombies are a danger to be accounted for, but not the main focus.
I liked how they shot the episode with a lot of shots where you can see down the long corridors of the mall because, as good of a time as they are having, everyone in the audience knows what's going to happen so you're almost looking over their shoulder waiting for the inevitable. The guy waking up was the start of the ticking time bomb that we all knew was there. [Reply]
Originally Posted by notorious:
Frank and Bill episode was a fantastic episode.
This one was anything but.
Hopefully Joel turns into a ghey too. Maybe they can make a 3rd episode showing how the fungus turns you homo even if u are just adjacent to it. Terrifying stuff. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ThaVirus:
I thought this episode did a good job of building tension. The whole time, any long shot, I had my eyes on the background expecting infected to show up.
I didn't think there was any tension to be honest. We all knew what was going to happen so it was just a matter of time. And once they didn't do it in by about 30 minutes through I knew they were going to do it at the end. [Reply]
