Co-writer Mazin reveals the show will explore its source material
Fans of the video game need not worry. Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin assures the TV adaptation is in good hands.
When HBO announced a TV adaptation of the 2013 hit video game The Last of Us, fans were tad bit unsettled at the idea of networks messing with the story of Joel and Ellie in their quest to save the humanity.
However, Mazin assures everyone that despite the adaptation, the story will not be hampered as its being developed by “the guy who did it” and in conjunction with Naughty Dog, the developer of the game.
“The guy who did it” in question is Neil Druckmann, the original writer of the game and co-writer along with Mazin on the TV adaptation. Speaking about their collaboration, Mazin continued that this alignment will not “undo” the story but rather “enhance” it. The changes that are being made will re-imagine the story, fill things out and expand the current story.
Mazin recalled one idea that Druckmann initially left out of the original game that will be a “jaw drop”. He further promised that the fans will “fall in love” with the show. Well, it surely is a bold statement to make but we trust the man. After all, he gave us Chernobyl.
Release:
Since the show is still in its writing stages, not much can be said when the series will go on floors. With the pandemic hampering any ability to film and travel, the future of the series releasing anytime soon is bleak.
There are no official updates regarding when the series will premiere or when the shoot might start. Considering filming takes a long 10 months, one can safely assume that the series will not release before late fall 2021. One could also look at an early 2022 release of the show.
Cast:
While no official casting has been done for the series, this hasn’t stopped fans and members of the gaming community to voice their opinions. In online polls from various platforms, the emerging fan favorite castings for Joel was Hugh Jackman owing to his successful portrayal of a fatherly Wolverine in Logan. Other contenders were Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Gerard Butler.
For the part of Ellie, fans picked Booksmart’s Kaitlyn Dever, It’s Sophia Lillis and Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink. An impressive roundup, indeed.
Of the lot, Dever responded to these fan castings saying that she has been seeing it all over the Internet and that she’d love to play the role of Ellie.
The voice of Joel, Troy Baker expressed that Josh Brolin would be a “knockout choice” and that he pitched the idea to the Avengers’ actor at an airport.
Plot:
The Last of Us centres around a post-apocalyptic in ruins crowded by zombie-like creatures due to the fungus outbreak. The story follows Joel, a hardened survivor who is tasked to smuggle Ellie but eventually finds out that she may hold the key to saving humanity.
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