It’s been revealed that the upcoming HBO series based upon The Last of Us will include dialogue from the original game which was released for PS3 in 2013.
The news comes from a panel during SXSW 2021. While speaking to IGN, Neil Druckmann, The Last of Us executive producer and co-president of Naughty Dog stated that season one will be an adaptation of the first game.
However, Druckmann did also confirm that while the first season of the HBO series will follow the events of the original game, it will still “deviate greatly” in some episodes.
Druckmann will be producing the HBO series with Craig Mazin (known for HBO’s Chernobyl). The Naughty Dog chief spoke of how Mazin will approach the adaptation.
“We talked at length [that season 1 of the show is going to be [the first game],” Druckmann explained. He then revealed that for him and Mazin “the philosophical underpinnings of the story” were vital elements in getting the HBO adaptation right.
“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.”
While not revealing anything specific, Druckmann did hint at the kind of content and level of detail that we can perhaps expect from the TV series, and how it may resemble its source material.
“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,” said Druckmann
“For example, in the game, there’s so much action you have to have to train the player about mechanics.”
Druckmann continued: “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 favourite episodes so far have deviated greatly from the story, and I can’t wait for people to see them.”
Druckmann did tease fans however, revealing that he’s seen the first prosthetic test of the Clicker, the zombie-type creature that has tormented players in the video game series.
“I just saw the first prosthetic test for the Clicker and it’s awesome. It’s so rad to see this thing come to physical life,” he said.
In recent news, it has also been confirmed that Pascal Pedro (Game of Thrones, The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) have been cast in the roles of Joel and Ellie, respectively.
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Featured Image Credit: Naughty Dog