The Last of Us is set to become one of the most anticipated video game adaptations of all time, as the game is widely considered as one of the greatest ever made. However, those expecting a full-fledged adaptation may be disappointed.
Speaking with IGN, the game’s writer and creative director Neil Druckmann has confirmed that the HBO series will be focusing on drama and said they’re purposely reining in the action so they can favor the dramatic aspects of the story.
Druckmann said that the first season of the show will be an adaptation of the first game, and he has been working with writer Craig Mazin to make sure “the philosophical underpinnings of the story” don’t get lost in translation. He went on to say the show will stay close to the game at times, but “deviate greatly” at others.
“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. For example, in the game, there’s so much action you have to have to train the player about mechanics. You have to have more violence and more spectacle to some degree than you would need on a TV show because you don’t need to train people on how to use a gun. So that’s something that’s been really different, and 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 favorite episodes so far have deviated greatly from the story, and I can’t wait for people to see them.”
The series will be starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, & will be set
twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Ramsey), 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.
