Sony and PlayStation have not been shy about their intent on bringing video-games to the big screen.
Huge news broke last month when it was confirmed that The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal would be taking on the role of Joel in the upcoming The Last of Us series developed by HBO. Shortly before that, it was also revealed that actress Bella Ramsey, best known for her role as Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones, was set to take on the mantle of Ellie in the series, with the much-anticipated show now confirming its two lead stars.
While the casting of the dynamic duo for the series is now common knowledge, information surrounding the plot for the show has been tough to come by. Chernobyl series creator Craig Mazin has signed on to the series, alongside Neil Druckmann, the Co-President of Naughty Dog and director of both Last of Us games.
This gives the show an impressive cast and crew, but a recent interview with Druckmann has revealed some new information on the show's potential plot points.
STAYING TRUE TO THE GAME BUT WILL FEEL UNIQUE
Neil Druckmann, Co-President of Naughty Dog and the director of both The Last of Us titles, has revealed in an interview with IGN that while the Pedro Pascal-led HBO series will lift dialogue from the original title, some episodes will “ deviate greatly from the events we've played previously. ”
“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.
"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.”
Druckmann also addressed a number of other potential similarities between the original games and the HBO series, including a character's potential outfit matching what was worn on the PlayStation exclusive.
“As far as the superficial things, like should [a character] wear the same plaid shirt or the same red shirt? They might or might not appear in it, that’s way less important to us than getting the core of who these people are and the core of their journey.”
The executive producer also revealed that the first prosthetics for the Clicker had been tested, potentially hinting towards a speed-up in the series' development.
HBO NOT AFRAID TO MAKE BOLD CHOICES
The Last of Us on HBO is still a long way away -- there's no denying that. But, the continued amounts of information being given to fans surrounding the series is great to see. Now that both Ellie and Joel have been cast, the creative vision for the series will be in full flow and it's unsurprising to see the studio wanting to slightly distance themselves from the original game.
The Last of Us released to an incredible reception in 2013, boasting some of the most impressive visuals seen on the PlayStation 3 at the time, with the game writing itself into the history books. A carbon-copy of the original title would not come across well adapted to a series, with a number of iconic scenes and features from the exclusive only made possible by the video-game system.
Games require players to feel involved with the world, making decisions of their own and building the story around the way they want to play. None of this is possible for a series.
No clues were given on which parts of the story would be taken straight into the series, but it's safe to assume that most of the big hitter moments will be present within the HBO show. What this means for a season two of the series is interesting, with The Last of Us 2 taking home top-spot at The Game Awards in December of last year. The game's unique and inclusive story made a huge impact on the games industry as a whole, so HBO may be inclined to follow the story closely in a sequel series of the show.
Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us will debut on HBO, yet no release window has been made official.