“The Last of Us” just might be the first time an adaptation at HBO will not surpass its source material.
“We have no plans to tell any stories beyond adapting the games,” Druckmann told The Hollywood Reporter of the HBO series he co-created with “Chernobyl” showrunner Craig Mazin, citing a fellow network hit. “We won’t run into the same issue as ‘Game of Thrones’ since ‘Part II’ [of the game series] doesn’t end on a cliffhanger.”
“Game of Thrones” infamously moved beyond George R.R. Martin’s fantasy novels and concluded before Martin’s book series was finished. The author recently revealed that he was “out of the loop” during the final seasons of “Game of Thrones” after previously consulting on scripts and casting for the first four seasons. Martin called out showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff for icing him out; meanwhile, Martin is heavily involved in current “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon.”
“The Last of Us” showrunner Mazin assured fans the series will be fully self-contained, adding, “I don’t have any interest in a spinning-plates-go-on-forever show. When it becomes a perpetual motion machine, it just can’t help but get kind of…stupid. Endings mean everything to me.”
Sci-fi “The Last of Us” stars Pedro Pascal as Joel, the hero tasked with smuggling tween Ellie (Bella Ramsey) out of a quarantine zone to safety across the U.S. in hopes of a cure for a zombie-like plague. Melanie Lynskey, Nick Offerman, and Murray Bartlett also star.
Druckmann also pointed toward the unique direction the source material takes from other zombie apocalypse franchises.
“We wanted to do the opposite of ‘Resident Evil’ — which I love, but it’s so over-the-top and you’re fighting giant spiders and it’s all about enemy variety,” Druckmann said. “What if it’s about intimate relationships — an exploration of the unconditional love a parent feels for their child and the beautiful things that could come out of that and the really horrible things that could come out of that?”
For all the details on “The Last of Us,” click here.
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