The TV adaptation of The Last Of Us will lift dialogue directly from the game but also diverge from some of its storylines.
That’s according to the show’s executive producer, Neil Druckmann, who also directed the video game series, as revealed in a new interview conducted at SXSW 2021.
Druckmann spoke about his and showrunner Craig Mazin’s approach to adapting the original game for HBO, telling IGN that “the philosophical underpinnings of the story” are the most crucial parts to get right.
“We talked at length [that season one of the show is going to be the first game],” he told the publication. “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.”
Druckmann continued: “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.
“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.”
The series, which was greenlit towards the end of last year, will star Pascal as Joel, a smuggler who is given the task of escorting 14-year-old Ellie, played by Ramsey, across a post-apocalyptic United States while fighting off hordes of zombies.
While Pascal also starred in Game Of Thrones, he and Ramsey were never on the series at the same time. Pascal, who played Oberyn Martell, last appeared in the fourth season and Ramsey, who played Lyanna Mormont, didn’t appear until the fifth season.
The post HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ TV series may “deviate greatly” from the game in parts appeared first on NME.
