HBO’s upcoming TV series based on the highly-acclaimed video game The Last of Us will follow the plot of the first game for its initial season. Executive Producer Neil Druckmann, who directed both the first and second games, said to expect storylines from the original game in addition to some dramatic deviations, according to Screenrant.
“Things sometimes stay pretty close,” Druckmann said via Screenrant. “It’s funny to see my dialogue there from the games in HBO scripts. And sometimes they deviate greatly to much better effect because we are dealing with a different medium.”
Released in 2013, The Last of Us follows Joel, a father still grieving from the loss of his daughter, and a young girl named Ellie, as they attempt to survive in a zombie-filled, post-apocalyptic world. The two characters form a special bond as they search for the cure to a fungal infection that has turned people into Clickers (blind zombies that hunt using echolocation). The Last of Us was widely received as one of the best of the last decade by numerous publications and spawned a critically-hailed sequel, released in 2020, that continued the story of Joel and Ellie.
HBO picked up The Last of Us to series ahead of shooting the pilot, according to Screenrant. Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones) has been cast as Joel, with Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) as Ellie, but no other casting or details on a release date have been announced.
The Last of Us is one of many planned video game adaptations, joining previously announced titles Assassin’s Creed and Fallout, as studios continue to tap existing properties as inspiration for programming. According to IGN, Sony Pictures Chairman and CEO Tony Vinciquerra said Sony has seven television shows in development based on PlayStation games.
“We have a program within the company called One Sony… You’ll be seeing a lot more integration of Sony companies together,” Vinciquerra said.