HBO - The Last of Us

[Sure-Oz]

@HBO: Look for the light.

@clmazin and @Neil_Druckmann to develop the series adaptation of #TheLastOfUs, coming soon to HBO: http://itsh.bo/thelastofus https://twitter.com/HBO/status/12356...572032/video/1

The Last of Us' Series in the Works at HBO From 'Chernobyl' Creator Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann (Exclusive)

MARCH 05, 2020 9:30AMby*Borys Kit, Patrick Shanley

Craig Mazin, the creator of the acclaimed limited series*Chernobyl,*is reteaming with HBO adapt*The Last of Us, the massive Sony PlayStation video game franchise.
In a rare development in the world of video game adaptations, the writer and creative director of the game, Neil Druckmann, is also involved, and will work with Mazin to pen and executive produce what is intended to be a series.

Carolyn Strauss will also executive produce along with Evan Wells, the president of Naughty Dog, the Santa Monica-based developer of the game. The project is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television and in association with PlayStation Productions and it will be the first television series from PlayStation Productions.
Originally launched in 2013, Sony and Naughty Dog’s*The Last of Us*garnered critical praise for its engrossing tale of the post-apocalypse centered on the relationship between Joel, a smuggler in this new world, and Ellie, a teenager who may be a key to a cure for the deadly pandemic.
Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle the14-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. The HBO series will cover the events of the original game, which was written by Druckmann, with the possibility of additional content based on the forthcoming game sequel,*The Last of Us Part II, which will release on May 29, 2020.
Mazin, who is said to be an avid player of the game, stated, “Neil Druckmann is without question the finest storyteller working in the video game medium, and*The Last of Us*is his magnum opus. Getting a chance to adapt this breathtaking work of art has been a dream of mine for years, and I’m so honored to do it in partnership with Neil.”
“From the first time I sat down to talk with Craig I was equally blown away by his approach to narrative and his love and deep understanding of*The Last of Us,” said Druckmann in a statement. “With*Chernobyl, Craig and HBO created a tense, harrowing, emotional masterpiece. I couldn’t think of better partners to bring the story of*The Last of Us*to life as a television show.”
Last of Us*won numerous “game of the year” awards and went on to sell more than 17 million copies across both its original release on the PlayStation 3 and a remastered version on the PlayStation 4.
“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to partner with Craig, Neil, Carolyn and the teams at Sony, Naughty Dog and PlayStation to bring the virtual world of this acclaimed game to life,” stated HBO programming president Casey Bloys.
“This is the first of many shows we intend to develop with our friends at PlayStation Productions,” said Chris Parnell, co-president of Sony Pictures Television Studios.*The Last of Us*is a brilliant achievement in storytelling and character development, and we are lucky to have the opportunity to work with this team to adapt it.”
Druckmann is a longtime vet of Naughty Dog, starting as a programming intern in 2004. In 2007, he was given the role of game designer on*Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, the first installment in the action adventure series. In 2013, he created*The Last of Us, based on a concept he developed as a student at Carnegie Mellon University.
Mazin’s*Chernobyl*tackled a bleak and complex true-life event and became a must-see show for HBO. The show won an Emmy for outstanding limited series and landed one for Mazin for outstanding writing. Mazin also won a PGA and a WGA Award.


Holy shit this is gonna be awesome.

[Shoes]

Can someone who played the game comment on how the game compares to the series in regards to the information Joel is given at the hospital?

Spoilers on last night's episode below.

Spoiler!

In the series, Joel is essentially given 30 seconds of dialogue regarding why Ellie is going into surgery but it seems like it is anything but a a sure thing.

To me the finale is all about portraying Joel as a conflicted protagonist. He's obviously an anti-hero from the beginning but takes a major step of serving his own purposes and desires as he saves Ellie since he obviously loves and cares for her.

I find it hard to disagree with his actions though when the audience is not fully aware of the Firefly's homework in regards to the procedure. If Ellie is truly the most valuable resource in finding a cure, wouldn't you want to be absolutely sure that this procedure has a very solid chance of producing a cure before brain surgery? Or even if the Doctor needed to have a better understanding of what was going on inside her brain/skull to further research on finding a cure. We as an audience are not given enough information. The dialogue from last night's episode:

"Our doctor thinks that the cordyceps in Ellie has grown with her since birth. It produces a kind of chemical messenger. It makes normal cordyceps think that she's cordyceps. It's why she's immune." - Marlene

It just seems like the surgery is more of a "hail mary". I didn't feel Joel's decision to save Ellie was unjust. I would feel much more conflicted if there was solid evidence or reasoning why they needed to perform brain surgery.

Appreciate anyone who can chime in.

[Sassy Squatch]

The explanation for WHY Ellie is immune isn't from the game. It's actually pretty vague. 'The Cordyceps in her brain mutated. We can reverse engineer it to make a vaccine' is pretty much how it's done in the game.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Shoes

Can someone who played the game comment on how the game compares to the series in regards to the information Joel is given at the hospital?

Spoilers on last night's episode below.

Spoiler!

In the series, Joel is essentially given 30 seconds of dialogue regarding why Ellie is going into surgery but it seems like it is anything but a a sure thing.

To me the finale is all about portraying Joel as a conflicted protagonist. He's obviously an anti-hero from the beginning but takes a major step of serving his own purposes and desires as he saves Ellie since he obviously loves and cares for her.

I find it hard to disagree with his actions though when the audience is not fully aware of the Firefly's homework in regards to the procedure. If Ellie is truly the most valuable resource in finding a cure, wouldn't you want to be absolutely sure that this procedure has a very solid chance of producing a cure before brain surgery? Or even if the Doctor needed to have a better understanding of what was going on inside her brain/skull to further research on finding a cure. We as an audience are not given enough information. The dialogue from last night's episode:

"Our doctor thinks that the cordyceps in Ellie has grown with her since birth. It produces a kind of chemical messenger. It makes normal cordyceps think that she's cordyceps. It's why she's immune." - Marlene

It just seems like the surgery is more of a "hail mary". I didn't feel Joel's decision to save Ellie was unjust. I would feel much more conflicted if there was solid evidence or reasoning why they needed to perform brain surgery.

Appreciate anyone who can chime in.

Starts at 41:42.



I'm not spoilering the video. Just don't watch if you don't want to know what happens.

[staylor26]

I'm definitely Team "Joel was right"

[Sassy Squatch]

Fireflies were ****s anyway. They renege on even the original deal (which was literally just taking Ellie across Boston), jack Joel's shit, and plan to throw him out without even letting him have a final goodbye. what the hell did they think Joel was going to do.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by Superturtle

Fireflies were ****s anyway. They renege on even the original deal (which was literally just taking Ellie across Boston), jack Joel's shit, and plan to throw him out without even letting him have a final goodbye. what the hell did they think Joel was going to do.

Spoiler!

They have one shot at a vaccine for that shit and it's not even guaranteed. Plus what do they think is going to happen? After years of living in a lawless wasteland...that shit is just going to go back to normal?

I get why people don't side with Joel but I would agree with them...if they had given Ellie a choice.

[Sassy Squatch]

Hell, there's no guarantee they even have good intentions with a vaccine even if they successfully made it.

[The Franchise]

Yeah…there is that as well. For all the talk about FEDRA, the Fireflies are the exact same. Just on the other side of the spectrum.

[dmahurin]

Originally Posted by Shoes

Can someone who played the game comment on how the game compares to the series in regards to the information Joel is given at the hospital?

Spoilers on last night's episode below.

Spoiler!

In the series, Joel is essentially given 30 seconds of dialogue regarding why Ellie is going into surgery but it seems like it is anything but a a sure thing.

To me the finale is all about portraying Joel as a conflicted protagonist. He's obviously an anti-hero from the beginning but takes a major step of serving his own purposes and desires as he saves Ellie since he obviously loves and cares for her.

I find it hard to disagree with his actions though when the audience is not fully aware of the Firefly's homework in regards to the procedure. If Ellie is truly the most valuable resource in finding a cure, wouldn't you want to be absolutely sure that this procedure has a very solid chance of producing a cure before brain surgery? Or even if the Doctor needed to have a better understanding of what was going on inside her brain/skull to further research on finding a cure. We as an audience are not given enough information. The dialogue from last night's episode:

"Our doctor thinks that the cordyceps in Ellie has grown with her since birth. It produces a kind of chemical messenger. It makes normal cordyceps think that she's cordyceps. It's why she's immune." - Marlene

It just seems like the surgery is more of a "hail mary". I didn't feel Joel's decision to save Ellie was unjust. I would feel much more conflicted if there was solid evidence or reasoning why they needed to perform brain surgery.

Appreciate anyone who can chime in.

Your second spoiler paragraph basically nails it. Everything's grey. Good or bad is completely subjective to your perspective is kind of the whole theme of the game/show.

Spoiler!

the game handles it basically the same. Joel wakes up, gets the story about it's in her brain this is what we are doing. In the game there is recordings you can find from exploring that go a little deeper, but the driving force of the story is the same. The fireflies are doing what is right to them to save the world. From Joel's perspective, that would be ending the world. Joel did save the world, his world. But at what price?

[ThaVirus]

Morally speaking, I'm not making any judgements. Everyone involved here, except Ellie, is pretty much a shit human being.

I did think that Joel should have been honest with Ellie, though.

[dmahurin]

Originally Posted by The Franchise

Yeah…there is that as well. For all the talk about FEDRA, the Fireflies are the exact same. Just on the other side of the spectrum.

Kind of the overarching theme, good and evil depend on the perspective of who is looking at it in this world.

[ThaVirus]

Spoiler!

Also, LOL at Joel going Rambo on an entire compound-full of trained muscle, but getting shived with a broken baseball bat by some random jamoke

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

I love this show but I feel a few more episodes would've been money for sure. Maybe they were limited on episodes being a game adaptation but idk. Hopefully they flesh it out more in the upcoming seasons.

I agree that the characters and backstories could have been fleshed out better. My guess is that they had a limited number of episodes to fit it all in and they weren't sure if they would get another season. If they really wanted to, they probably could have made this 10 episode season into 20 episodes.

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

Also, ..

Oh, great. Thanks for spoilering that.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Lzen

Oh, great. Thanks for spoilering that.

Those are, like, diet spoilers, but I spoilered it nonetheless. You should edit your post so it's hidden.