The upcoming HBO series, The Last of Us, sports an odd duo of showrunners: one who created the original video game and its sequel and another with no experience creating or adapting video games. Neil Druckmann, the gamer, created The Last of Us in 2013. On the other hand, Craig Mazin is known for creating and writing the Chernobyl historical miniseries, which earned dozens of awards, including several Emmys. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Druckmann tells the story of how they came to meet, starting with his inspiration for the game itself:
The “intimate relationships” part wasn’t initially interesting to beta testers of the game, who wanted more boss fights and exotic weapons, says Druckmann. He had to shelve his “dream game” for a few years because he didn’t want to compromise and turn his game into just another flashy shooter. “I wanted to fail on my own terms,” Druckmann says, and took a huge risk by making a zombie game that was much more story-centered and grounded than its other, more boisterous counterparts. It became a huge hit, with particular praise for its writing, voice acting, and story.
“We wanted to do the opposite of Resident Evil — which I love, but it’s so over-the-top and you’re fighting giant spiders and it’s all about enemy variety. What if it’s about intimate relationships — an exploration of the unconditional love a parent feels for their child and the beautiful things that could come out of that and the really horrible things that could come out of that?”
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Druckmann later began working on a film adaptation for The Last of Us and was able to sign on legendary director Sam Raimi. However, they had difficulty condensing the game into a single film, with Druckmann calling it “an impossible task.” The film adaptation died in early development.
Neil Druckmann Was Willing to Let The Last of Us Adaptation Die - Until He Saw Chernobyl
HBO
While a real-life nuclear disaster is a far cry from a zombie apocalypse caused by a fungal infection, Neil Druckmann was so impressed by Chernobyl’s atmosphere and style that it helped him envision The Last of Us as a TV show. He met with Chernobyl creator and writer Craig Mazin over lunch about a possible adaptation. Druckmann was immediately moved by Mazin’s pitch and said he shouldn’t have been moved by a story he already knew and wrote himself, but Mazin’s retelling was just that good:
Craig Mazin is well aware of the “video game curse” - the way that most video game adaptations tend to fail both critically and financially. So he calls it “cheating” that he’s able to adapt the best video game story ever told:
“He’s such a good storyteller, I was finding myself emotionally moved by a story that — for all intents and purposes — I shouldn’t be moved by anymore. I realized that this is what I got wrong every other time — I didn’t have the right partner.”
While audiences can trust Druckmann to stay true to the game that he himself built, they can also rely on Mazin to create a show that’s meant to be a show, one that will still appeal to viewers with no knowledge of the game.
“The way to break the video game curse is to adapt the best video game story ever — not by a little, but by a lot. So I flat-out cheated.”
Audiences will be able to see if The Last of Us breaks the video game curse when it premieres on Jan. 15. It stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey and will be released via HBO.
