The Last of Us co-creator and Naughty Dog game developer Neil Druckmann explained why Sam Raimi's movie adaptation of the popular video game ultimately fell apart.
Speaking to The New Yorker, Druckmann explained that he trusted Raimi, who was brought on to direct The Last of Us movie. However, the problem was studio executives at Sony who wanted the movie to be "bigger and sexier," similar to World War Z, while Druckmann's source of inspiration was films like No Country for Old Men.
The Last of Us film adaptation was announced in 2014 with a script by Druckmann, who has previously cited the film falling apart due to creative differences between himself and the studio, who wanted to make the film on a larger scale. "When I worked on the movie version, a lot of the thinking and notes were like ‘How do we make it bigger? How do we make the set pieces bigger?'" Druckmann said in 2021. "I think that’s ultimately why the movie wasn’t made."
While The Last of Us movie never came to fruition, the video game will now come to life as a series on HBO, starring Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller and Bella Ramsey as Ellie Williams. "Our approach for The Last of Us was 'Let's make it as an indie film. Let's approach it as an indie film team, the way it's shot [and in terms of] how small and intimate it feels," Druckman explained. "And with the show, we get to lean into that even more because we don't have to have as many action sequences as we do in the game."
The Last of Us Heads to HBO Max
Season 1 of HBO's The Last of Us consists of 10 episodes and adapts the storyline from the first game in the franchise, based on a screenplay written by Druckman and Chernobyl writer Craig Mazin. Released by Naughty Dog in 2013, The Last of Us video game follows a smuggler named Joel who is tasked with leading Ellie, a 14-year-old girl immune to the Cordyceps virus that has ravaged humanity for nearly twenty years, across the post-apocalyptic United States. Seven years later, a sequel titled The Last of Us Part II was released in 2020. Ramsey (Game of Thrones) has referred to the role as "the biggest thing" of her career so far.
The series was filmed mostly in Calgary, Alberta. HBO's The Last of Us is set to premiere on HBO and stream on HBO Max on Jan. 15, 2023.
Source: The New Yorker