The Last of Us is HBO’s highly anticipated adaptation of the 2013 PlayStation 3 game that is set to release this month. Creator and co-showrunner Neil Druckmann talked about the adaptation and how it was initially supposed to be a film adaptation as opposed to a TV series.
In an interview with Variety at the recent premiere of The Last of Us, Druckmann shared, “We tried to make it into a movie, and it did not work because what is usually a 15-hour experience and compressing it down into two hours, it didn’t work and there is always something else that is popping out I felt was important to the story. This time around it allowed us to take our time and have a slow burn with the relationship between Joel and Ellie, over a year-long journey that could have only been adapted into a TV show.”
The Last of Us will adapt the first title in the video game series and tell the story of Joel and Ellie, who go on a journey across a post-apocalyptic America. The journey’s end goal is to use Ellie’s immunity towards the world-destroying Cordyceps virus to save the world. Pedro Pascal is playing Joel, while Bella Ramsey is playing Ellie.
Druckmann is very confident about the series, as he called it the “best, most authentic game adaptation” yet. Which might actually be true, as early reviews of the show have been pretty positive. IGN awarded The Last of Us a score of 9 out of 10, calling it a “breathtaking adaptation” that builds the world from the game while changing a few elements here and there. Read the review here.
