Why Sam Raimi’s THE LAST OF US Movie Never Happen
Mike Sprague
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Before HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us really hit the road, there was another version in the works. Sony originally planned to produce a movie with Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann penning the script for producer Sam Raimi.
Also Read: HBO’s THE LAST OF US Will Be Largest Production in Canadian History
But that never happened. Here’s why.
Druckmann tells the podcast Script Apart: “When I worked on the movie version, a lot of the thinking and notes were like ‘how do we make it bigger? How do we make the set pieces bigger? I think that’s ultimately why the movie wasn’t made.”
He adds: “Our approach for The Last of Us was ‘Let’s make it as an indie film. Let’s approach it as an indie film team, the way it’s shot, the way how small and intimate it feels. And with the show we get to lean into that even more because we don’t have to have as many action sequences as we do in the game.”
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HBO’s adaptation with Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) will begin shooting in Calgary this July. Johan Renck (Chernobyl) was set to direct. But he had to drop out. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov will take over.
Craig Mazin, the creator of HBO’s killer limited series Chernobyl, is writing and executive producing with the game’s writer and creative director, Neil Druckmann.
The post-apocalypse tale centers on the relationship between Joel and Ellie. Joel a smuggler in this new world. He is hired to smuggle the 14-year-old girl out of an oppressive quarantine zone. Ans she may be the key to a cure for the pandemic. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey. Now they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
The series will cover the events of the original game. So the game’s writer / creative director Neil Druckmann will work with Mazin to pen and executive produce.
Carolyn Strauss will also executive produce with Evan Wells. The show is the first series from PlayStation Productions. Sony Pictures Television co-produces.
Are you glad Sam Raimi’s The Last of Us movie never happened?
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