Having proven his chops with a real-world apocalypse (well, near-apocalypse), HBO has tapped Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin to develop an adaptation of The Last Of Us, Naughty Dog’s critically acclaimed PlayStation game about a fungus-based zombie apocalypse and the cranky dude and plucky girl who have to work together to survive. Also, there’s a big moment with giraffes.
This comes from The Hollywood Reporter, which says Neil Druckmann—the game’s writer and creative director—is “also involved” and will “work with Mazin to pen and executive produce” the series, so at least one guy who actually worked on the game will be closely involved in making this show. (The plan is for this to be a limited series like Chernobyl.) The project is also coming from Sony’s newly formed PlayStation Productions label, so the publisher is also keeping a close eye on this one. There might not be much need for Sony to worry, though, seeing as how Mazin won an Emmy for writing Chernobyl and he said in a statement that Druckmann is “without question the finest storyteller working in the video game medium.” Of course, video game adaptations tend to either be terrible or stuck in development hell forever, so there are still a few things to worry about.
THR says the plot of the series will cover the events of the first game, which we partially spoiled up there with that reference to giraffes, but there will be a “possibility” for “additional content” that sets up the plot of the upcoming, long-delayed sequel. The game will be available on May 29, supposedly, but we’d assume that the TV show will air much later than that if it’s just starting development now. Also, hopefully somebody at HBO is developing a time machine so young Ellen Page can star in this, because we’re not sure who else could play Ellie.