Last year, it was announced that HBO and PlayStation Productions were adapting the hit PlayStation video game The Last of Us into a television series, and now, game director Neil Druckmann has offered an update on the project.
In an interview with IGN during SXSW 2021, Druckmann revealed that the upcoming HBO series will adapt dialogue from the first The Last of Us game but will “deviate greatly” from the original story in some episodes.
“Things sometimes stay pretty close. 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.”
Druckmann later added: “HBO’s been great in pushing us to move away from hardcore action and focus more on the drama of the character. Some of my favourite episodes so far have deviated greatly from the story, and I can’t wait for people to see them.”
The Last of Us is “set 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed and centres on the relationship between Joel, a smuggler in this new world, and Ellie, a teenager who may be key to a cure for a deadly pandemic. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle the 14-year-old girl out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey as they traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.”
Craig Mazin, the creator of HBO’s acclaimed limited series Chernobyl, will pen the script and serve as executive producer on the TV adaptation alongside Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of the game. Beanpole director Kantemir Balagov will direct the pilot with Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) being cast as Joel and Ellie respectively.
SEE ALSO: The Last of Us TV series will expand and enhance the game’s story, says co-writer Craig Mazin
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