HBO Orders ‘The Last of Us’ TV Series From Craig Mazin & Neil Druckmann
HBO has handed a series order to ‘The Last Of Us‘, a drama based on the hugely popular video game, from Craig Mazin, the man behind the phenomenal ‘Chernobyl’, and Neil Druckmann, Naughty Dog VP, and writer of the ‘The Last of Us’ and ‘Uncharted’ video games.
Based on the critically acclaimed video game ‘The Last of Us’, developed by Naughty Dog exclusively for the PlayStation platforms, the story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, 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.
Craig Mazin, the man who created the multi-award-winning drama ‘Chernobyl’, will exec produce and write the script alongside writer and creative director of the original game, Neil Druckmann. Carolyn Strauss (‘Chernobyl’, ‘Game of Thrones’) will also exec produce with Evan Wells, the president of Naughty Dog, and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan. The project is a co-production between Sony Pictures Television, Word Games, Naughty Dog and PlayStation Productions, the people behind the upcoming ‘Uncharted’ movie.
“Craig and Neil are visionaries in a league of their own,” comments Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming. “With them at the helm alongside the incomparable Carolyn Strauss, this series is sure to resonate with both die-hard fans of ‘The Last of Us’ games and newcomers to this genre-defining saga. We’re delighted to partner with Naughty Dog, Word Games, Sony and PlayStation to adapt this epic, powerfully immersive story.”
When ‘The Last of Us’ was launched it sold 1.3 million units in the first 7 days, becoming the biggest video game launch of 2013 at the time. After 3 weeks, that jumped to 3.4 million units, topping charts around the globe. As of 2018, it had sold over 17 million copies across the original PS3 release and the remastered version for PS4. The sequel, ‘The Last of Us II’, launched in June 2020 and was the biggest launch of the year. It is currently the third highest-grossing game ever on PlayStation in the US. In addition to phenomenal sales, the game garnered critical acclaim across the board, picking up over 200 awards, including many Game Of The Year accolades.
“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, President of Sony Pictures Television Studios and Asad Qizilbash, Head of PlayStation Productions. “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.”
We don’t have any casting or idea of a premiere date yet, but ‘The Last Of Us‘ tv series will be available on HBO and to stream on HBO Max in the US. The series should fall under Sky’s overall deal for HBO shows on Sky Atlantic in the UK, but we’ll let you know when we have some confirmation.
