However, some things will differ greatly due to the differences between mediums. Neil Druckmann revealed in an interview with IGN that the first season of the show will cover the events of the first game.ĭruckmann said things in the show will stick pretty closely to the game for the most part.
The announcement also notes that the series will "cover the events of the original game" with the "possibility of additional content" based on The Last of Us 2. That sure does sound like The Last of Us. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. The story takes place twenty years after modern civilisation has been destroyed. This is the plot synopsis according to the HBO announcement:
So, translating this into a TV show shouldn't be that hard, right?
Many fans can attest to the fact that The Last of Us games are already very cinematic, in terms of acting, narrative and visuals. Will the TV show be different to the games? © Provided by Kotaku Australia Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions are also on board behind the scenes. HBO itself has a strong track record of producing high-quality genre shows, including Game of Thrones, Westworld and Watchmen. Here's hoping the studio's breadth of experience follows through here. Gustavo Santaolalla, who gave us The Last of Us' excellent soundtrack, will also be back to compose music for the show. Kantemir Balagov ( Beanpole) is helming the pilot episode and Jasmila Zbanic ( Quo Vadis, Aida) and Ali Abbasi ( Border) also taking episodes in the series. The series has hired relatively unknown directors so far. He's also working with a long-time fan of the games and award-winning Chernobyl writer, Craig Mazin, who we know can write a damn good TV show. There's pretty much no one else in the world who knows The Last of Us games like Druckmann, so it's in safe hands there. However, there are a few positive signs that this adaptation is set to be a good one.įor starters, The Last of Us game director and Naughty Dog co-president, Neil Druckmann, is onboard as an executive producer. The Last of Us and The Last of Us 2 are beloved games, so meddling with them in any way would be quite a risk for HBO. While details are still thin on the ground, here's everything we do know about the series so far.
HBO announced its The Last of Us project over a year ago and the show has been picking up steam as it heads into filming. Though none may be more anticipated than HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us. There's an endless number of video game adaptations coming down the pipe, including big-name projects like Amazon's Fallout series and Paramount's Halo TV show.
No word yet on casting, though it'll be hard to replace the iconic performances of Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker.Movies based on video games don't have the best track record, but TV shows based on video games still have a relatively clean slate.
So how does this new HBO thing differentiate itself? Well, it has the talent: Craig Mazin, who helmed Chernobyl, will be executive producing, working alongside longtime series writer and director Neil Druckmann. You could easily lift the plotting and acting wholesale from the franchise and you'd have a pretty OK show. HBO's prestige programming is the perfect home for the game's plotty, grimdark series of twists and turns, harrowing moments of the human soul, and scary monsters doing monster murders.īut that, in and of itself, is what's so weird: The Last of Us is already more dedicated to film and TV-style storytelling than almost any game out there. On the one hand, it's a match made in TV heaven. The Last of Us Is Getting a TV Show, Which Does Seem a Little Redundantįinally, the hammer of decision has struck: HBO is turning Sony and Naughty Dog's The Last of Us into a television series.