There is little left for the first TV series of a PlayStation franchise to premiere with that of The Last of Us from HBO, but something that not everyone knows is that TLOU was originally planned to have a filmwhich was to be directed by sam raimi. However, Neil Druckman explains what happened to the film project.
From the Super Mario Bros. movie in 1992 to Sonic the Hedgehog 2 this year, we’ve seen all kinds of video game adaptations for movies and TV, but the truth is that most have been disappointing. For this reason, HBO has spent more than $100 million to ensure that The Last Of Us series breaks the curse of video game adaptations.
In an interview with The New YorkerNeil Druckman revealed that they were exploring the option of making a The Last of Us movie since 2014, a year after the release of the first game. The film that was contemplated at that time would be produced by Screen Gemsa Sony subsidiary known for the successful but critically criticized Resident Evil movies with Milla Jovovich.
As we might guess, Screen Gems’ vision for The Last of Us movie was in stark contrast to what they had in mind. Neil Druckman. While the creator of The Last of Us was thinking of something similar in style to No Country for Old Men, while the studio was thinking of something in the style of World War Z (World War Z).
Screen Gems even hired Sam Raimi as Director, who by then had already delivered the Spider-Man trilogy with Tobey Maguire. However, while Neil Druckman had respect for Sam Raimi, The Last of Us creator felt there was no way to condense 15 hours of gameplay into a two-hour movie.
This resulted in a problematic development for the film, so after a few years Screen Gems decided to relinquish the rights, thus canceling its production directed by Sam Raimi. Eventually the adaptation of The Last of Us went from being a film to a serieswhich premieres on HBO on January 15, 2023.
