THE LAST OF US creator on the initial film adaptation and why he didn’t trust studio execs

Before HBO Max started developing a series adaptation of the hit video game The Last of Usthere was a film adaptation in the works at Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems, best known for the Resident Evil franchise. Sam Raimi he had to direct it, but The Last of Us Creator Neil Druckman he was not happy with the direction studio executives wanted to give the film.

In an interview with the New York Times, Druckmann explained that the studio was geared towards making “a particular kind of film”. He didn’t trust the studio executives because they apparently kept pushing for a “bigger, sexier” film.

While they were trying to do that, Druckmann wanted the aesthetic of the film to be more similar It’s no country for old menand they wanted something more like that World War Z. She was also concerned that fifteen hours of gameplay could not be adequately condensed into a two-hour feature film.

Screen Gems was never able to crack a film adaptation and handed over the rights. Later Druckmann was informed by Carter Swanthe executive in charge of the IP expansion of PlayStation, that writer Craig Mazin shared Druckmann’s opinion on The Last of Us not being able to be properly adapted into a film. Then, Druckmann said, “Wait, the Chernobyl boy? Why can’t I meet him?” And now we have the series coming!

Mazin also spoke to Empire recently The Last of Us and explained that it is the best story of all games: “It’s an open and closed case: this is the greatest story that has ever been told in video games. [Joel and Ellie] they shot nothing out of their eyeballs. They were just people. And that, in and of itself, is extraordinarily rare in gaming. The fact that they kept it so down to earth and it really made you feel: I’ve never experienced anything like this and I’ve been playing video games since 1977.”

The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed by a deadly virus. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie (Ramsey) out of an oppressive quarantine zone to the Fireflies, a cure-seeking organization. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and harrowing journey as both must traverse the United States and depend on each other for survival.

Peter Pascal stars in the series as Joel, and Bella Ramsey is taking on the role of Ellie in the upcoming video game adaptation. They are united by Gabriel Luna as Joel’s brother Tommy Anna Torv, Merle Dandrige, Nick Offerman, Storm Reid, Nico Parker, Gabriel Luna, Jeffery Pierceand Murray Barlett.

The series will be released on HBO Max on January 15, 2023.