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The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann has opened up about some of the changes we can expect when the fan-favorite game hits HBO as a new TV show, admitting that some episodes "have deviated greatly from the story" told in the first installment of the series.
In an interview with IGN, Druckmann – who also serves as executive producer on the upcoming series – confirmed that, while in some places dialogue "stays pretty close" to the exchanges found in-game, "the philosophical underpinnings of the story" are more important than "should [a character] wear the same plaid shirt or the same red shirt". Consequently, in some instances, the Last of Us TV show will "deviate greatly" from the video game.
"Things sometimes stay pretty close. It's funny to see my dialogue there from the games in HBO scripts," Druckmann said. "And sometimes they deviate greatly to much better effect because we are dealing with a different medium.
"Some of my favorite episodes so far have deviated greatly from the story, and I can't wait for people to see them," he added.
"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."
Druckmann also teased that testing on the show's prosthetics is underway, revealing that his first glimpse of a "real-life" Clicker was "awesome".
"It's so rad to see this thing come to physical life," he said.
With the casting of the two leads finally revealed, we're beginning to get a clearer picture of HBO's adaptation of Naughty Dog's game. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay will take up the two leading roles, while Druckmann and Craig Mazin will team up to adapt the original subject material for the small screen.
Additionally, Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov will step in to direct the pilot, after former Chernobyl director and Mazin collaborator Johan Renck stepped away from the project late last year due to scheduling issues. For something to watch in the meantime, check out the best Netflix shows and best shows on Amazon Prime right now.
