HBO's upcoming television adaptation of The Last of Us will adapt the story of Naughty Dog's original 2013 video game. However, while the HBO series' plot points -- and even some of its dialogue -- will be familiar to fans of the game, the show is also poised to take some unexpected turns.
HBO's The Last of Us is being written and executive produced by Craig Mazin alongside Neil Druckmann -- creative director, co-director and co-writer of the Last of Us video game series. The HBO adaptation received a series order in November 2020, with it later being revealed that Game of Thrones alums Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal would star as main protagonists Ellie and Joel, respectively.
In a recent interview with IGN, Druckmann explained that he and Mazin "talked at length" about how Season 1 of the HBO series would cover the events of the first Last of Us video game. Furthermore, he says the "philosophical underpinnings of the story" are their priority as far as writing the adaptation is concerned. "As far as the superficial things, like should [a character] wear the same plaid shirt or the same red shirt? They might or might not appear in it, that's way less important to us than getting the core of who these people are and the core of their journey."
Druckmann went on to explain that even those familiar with the original game, its story and its dialogue will be surprised by certain episodes of the TV show, though specifics are obviously being kept under wraps. "Things sometimes stay pretty close. It's funny to see my dialogue there from the games in HBO scripts," he said. "And sometimes they deviate greatly to much better effect because we are dealing with a different medium."
Developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, The Last of Us originally released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 in June 2013, though was brought over to the PlayStation 4 the following year. The game allows players to take control of a smuggler named Joel, who must escort Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States. A sequel, The Last of Us Part II, released as a PS4-exclusive in June 2020. Set five years after the events of the first game, Part II features Ellie as one of two playable protagonists -- the other being a new character named Abby. Both games have been met with critical acclaim.
Per an official synopsis for HBO's TV adaptation,
Based on the critically acclaimed video game The Last of Us, developed by Naughty Dog exclusively for the PlayStation® platforms, the story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-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.
Written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, HBO's The Last of Us is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television and stars Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel. Director Kantemir Balagov will be helming the series' pilot episode.
Source: IGN