While there hasn’t been any shortage of adaptations of video games on both small screen and movies, we can agree that it’s extremely difficult to adapt video games for big or small screens. As a result, fans are eagerly waiting for the adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us. Given the video game franchise already has a dedicated fanbase, it’ll be interesting to see how the show’s creators decide to integrate different characters within the show. Interestingly, Neil Druckmann, who directed both games and serves as an executive producer on the show has revealed that there’ll be several changes in the show.
During a recent interview with IGN during SXSW 2021 Druckmann explained that the studio took the decision to transition the story to better suit for small screen. He said, “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. For example, in the game, there’s so much action you have to have to train the player about mechanics. 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.”
Given video game adaptations can be difficult, it’s not particularly surprising that some aspects of the video game will be changed to better suit the small screen. While we’ll need to wait to find out if the decision becomes successful, Druckmann confirmed that the first season will follow the storyline of the first game. As a result, it’s likely that we will learn how Joel and Ellie first met and made their way across the country.
