PlayStation Productions, the new division within Sony Interactive Entertainment designed to create television and film adaptations of its popular game franchises, is really cooking now. Following the completion of principle photography for the Uncharted Movie, the group has now officially sold its previously announced first season of The Last of Us to HBO.
That means the TV show written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann will now go into production soon. Game of Thrones’ Carolyn Strauss will executive produce alongside Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells and Sony’s Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan. The series is being co-produced by Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Word Games, and Naughty Dog.
“We’re thrilled to be working with HBO and this fantastic creative team to bring The Last of Us series to life,” said Jeff Frost, the president of Sony Pictures Television Studios. “PlayStation’s innovative storytelling and ingenuity is a natural complement to SPT’s creative focus. Our collaboration is a great example of our ‘One Sony’ philosophy at work. We look forward to developing even more iconic game IP in the future.”
The show will follow the events of the first game, as Joel and Ellie embark on a cross-country journey across the United States in a post-apocalyptic world. There’s no tentative release date or provisional casting choices currently announced, but we’re sure we’ll be learning a lot more about the project in the near future.
[source pressroom.warnermedia.com]
Comments 39
This is going to be huge.
I just don’t really see the point. The game’s cinematic already and lasts like 15 hours giving you time to warm to the characters. A straight adaptation just feels a bit redundant when the game’s 50% cutscene.
@nessisonett Firstly, the game isn't 50% cut-scenes. But the reason is that, if handled correctly, this is going to take a popular brand and push it out into the stratosphere.
If they do a good job, The Last of Us is about to become absolutely gigantic. Look at what happened to The Witcher last year.
@get2sammyb I quite liked the Last of Us and personally enjoyed the gameplay more than the plot. I just think that it worked with The Witcher because that’s based on books first and foremost and set in a fantasy world with loads of content written about different characters. The Last of Us at its base is a zombie apocalypse story which is nuanced for the video game industry but really isn’t all that original if you compare it to other TV shows. There are just different standards with what people expect from a video game story.
I hope the first season is successful because they did say TLOU2 could be adapted if this does well.
May as well take advantage of filming now, given the state of the world. Cheap production value be coming out the wazoo!
Jesus some people don't half moan.
🤦
It's has fantastic potential if done correctly. Majority of shows, games and films aren't completely original anyway but what really matters is the quality.
I imagine the show will deal with flashbacks, perhaps it will touch upon the huge gap between the prologue and when Joel meets Ellie.
The casting will be key. Maybe they need a big name to be involved in at least one key role (just look at Cavill Superman himself taking on the role of Geralt) or perhaps they'll be more keen on looking for relatively unknowns. This could be something great even if our resident Deacon-hater won't be watching.
😜
I can't wait to see this. With Druckmann and Mazin at the helm, I'm pretty confident in the delivery. I want this to make me fall in love with the franchise all over again.
Maybe they should have an entire season dedicated to the story of a certain character from Part II.
I'm sure that would be well received.
😉
@nessisonett I love the franchise but I'm kinda with you on this. I guess it's good for those unfamiliar with the game but even then, like you say, is there enough there without the gameplay? Guess we'll see.
My worry is casting. This isn't a book where I imagine my own characters but settle for however they turn up in adaptations because like, I get it, everyone has their own vision. Joel and Ellie very much exist the way they are depicted in the game. So Tom Holland, or some other such nonsensical choice, as Joel is just not gonna cut it for me.
@zupertramp Hugh Jackman as Joel, Don Cheadle as Ellie. That’s what I hear the gamers are wanting.
As long as it sticks to the first game I see a lot of potencial. Although the whole zombie apocalypse has been played to death on tv in recent though. The first game has a simple story and the execution was flawless. Honestly, it has a perfect ambiguous ending too. The game didn't need a sequel.
If they adapt part 2 it will be game of thrones season 8 all over again. Or maybe who knows they can put their own spin and maybe fix the atrocious pacing and narrative structure the second game has. Heck, they could even make Abby a sympathetic character and actually give her a proper character introduction.
But then again Neil is involved so I have low expectations for this.
I'm not getting my hopes up for it, I'm not a drooling seething at the mouth superfan though, but I'm hopeful it'll be at least decent. As long as it isn't as melodramatic as The Walking Dead...
I enjoyed the Last of Us, and after playing it a second time, I also enjoyed the Last of Us 2 (the story still is kinda eh to me), so I'm really interested in this.
Hopefully with slightly less mass murder!
@nessisonett 50% cut scenes? Ok.
This will be amazing. I am so excited. Craig Mazin worked wonders on chernobyl. If he can repeat the fest here we are in for a treat. I already know i'll be an emotional wreck if they manage to pull off the opening of the game right in the show
I really hope this Clickers with fans and they don't Bloater it too much that it becomes a complete Shamblers.
@Mpquikster
This could be huge for Naughty Dog if this become successful. The Last of Us is already huge in the gaming community but this could give the series, the mainstream popularity it deserves.
Chernobyl was soooo good. This gives me hope.
A lot of people complaining that the game is already adequate to tell the story, but I'm imagining that the aim of the series will be to open up the world to other stories.
Why tell Last of us 2 when they can use this world to tell other stories. Possibly even long term cross the characters from the series into the video games and visa-versa. Never really been done like that before but perhaps now's the time to blur that line of entertainment between film and game.
New characters in the series that people respond well to could be used as a basis for the next video game?
Too bad HBO still only airs/streams content in 1080p SDR. It’s going to be ironic when the live action series looks worse than the games.
@StonyKL Well the article says that it’s following the story of the first game. If it was another story in the same universe then fair enough.
@Col_McCafferty Hi there friend. "Maybe they should have an entire season dedicated to the story of a certain character from Part II."
That could be very interesting. If done right.
usually, I´m quite skeptical of movie/series of videogames, because, well..... They usually aren´t good, to say the least.
But who knows, they can make this atracttive to both fans of the games and non fans alike. We´ll see how it goes.
Cheers, stay safe and happy next gen gaming to us all
Probably gonna fail like any tv/movies based on games.
@Cheems Except Castevania and The Witcher (Let's face it they made it because of the game, not the books)
Just what the world needs, a zombie show.
Zombie shows are the new Law & Order I guess.
How many people are going to watch this TV show and just think it's an adaptation of the movie of the book The Road?
@rjejr There aren't that many zombie shows tbh. The Walking Dead has gone on too long and no one talks about Z Nation cos it's Z Nation.
@rjejr It's all part of the McCarthyverse.
Just hope Chigurh shows up somewhere.
@AdamNovice The 1995 Mortal Kombat movie is still the best movie adaptation of a video game.
@Turbodream
Not in terms of quality but because of its charm.
I always liked how Raiden sounds like he smokes four packs of Kools a day.
I really am SOO pumped for this. Chernobyl was amazing. I really can’t wait to see this take on one of my favorite stories.
@Mpquikster Nikolaj Coster-Waldau would be a good choice for Joel
@AdamNovice iZombie, TWD, FtWD, TWD:WB
You know there are enough when websites make lists. 😉
https://collider.com/best-zombie-tv-shows/
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/zombie-tv-by-tomatometer/
@zupertramp So, I googled McCarthyverse b/c even though I knew what you meant - I'm an Arrowverse fan - I still wanted to see what google thought, and you'll be happy to know your reply to me was the 6th link down the front page list. So if McCarthyverse ever gets big, maybe b/c of this TV show, people will be seeing your reply when they search google.
I'm taking partial credit since you were replying to me. 😎
@TheRedComet It's easy to forget now with the small budget and dated special effects, but in 1995, Mortal Kombat the movie was a big hit and a big success financially.
Also, it is still one of the most accurate if not the most accurate adaptation of a video game to a "real" movie (not animation).
Sure, it's cheesy but the fight choregraphies are good enough for the most part and it is memorable. It was so good in fact that the future games changed Kano to be like his depiction in the movie.
You just have to look to the sequel to see how a MK story can easily be a complete mess of a movie.
Christopher Lambert (Raiden) was a big french movie star at the time. He is great in MK.
@rjejr lol yeah I was being quite absurd so that'll be wild if it ever becomes a thing. But I'll share credit.
@zupertramp Stranger things have happened, like all of 2020.
The Last of Us tv show might need murder hornet zombies that spread the coronavirus to make it seem believable. 😂
Looking forward to checking it out! I loved the first game and the Left Behind DLC.
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