HBO's The Last of Us TV show will enhance the story from the game according to series creator Craig Mazin. Not long after The Last of Us launched on PS3 in 2013, the wildly successful and acclaimed video game was eyed for a live-action adaptation. The game was planned to be a movie for some time, but it was recently announced that Joel and Ellie's apocalyptic story was heading to TV instead. HBO announced in early 2020 that Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin is developing the TV adaptation of The Last of Us.
In the months since HBO's announcement, there hasn't been too many updates on the TV show, but The Last of Us fans have still been busy. The highly anticipated sequel, The Last of Us Part 2, finally was released on PS4 over the summer and became one of the fastest-selling games for Sony and Naughty Dog. The next chapter in Joel and Ellie's story brought even more content to this franchise and built out the overall story in several surprising ways. Fans have been left wondering how the HBO series will adapt the expansive story of both games, with one of the main concerns being what could be left out.
Those who are worried about The Last of Us losing story elements in the adaptation shouldn't fear such cuts, as showrunner Craig Mazin says the opposite will happen. He recently did an interview with BBC and discussed his plans for The Last of Us, noting that he is working with Neil Druckmann (the creative director of the game) to enhance the story through the TV format.
I think fans of something worry that, when the property gets licensed to someone else, those people don’t really understand it, or are going to change it. In this case, I’m doing it with the guy who did it, and so the changes that we’re making are designed to fill things out and expand, not to undo, but rather to enhance.
A faithful but richer adaptation of The Last of Us is essentially a dream come true for fans of the game if Mazin is able to deliver on this tease. He went on to say that he is a big fan of the game and knows just how emotionally connected others who have experienced the story are to what happened. That pressure to deliver a familiar story in a new way is part of the challenge Mazin and Druckmann face. He knows that he won't be able to please everyone but it sounds like his take on The Last of Us could have even more time to flesh out the world, side characters, backstories, and so on.
With the potential that The Last of Us has as a TV series, fans are understandably already eager to learn more about the HBO show. Mazin has already brought back one member of his Chernobyl team with Johan Renck set to direct the pilot episode of the series. Details on the series are limited, though, as there is no production schedule or release date yet. It still might be a while before The Last of Us arrives on HBO, but hopefully Mazin enhances the story in exciting ways.
Source: BBC