The Last of Us is finally getting its live-action adaptation next month with the arrival of HBO’s TV series, but this was not the first attempt at adapting Joel and Ellie’s story. Previously, game creator Neil Druckmann had partnered up with Evil Dead helmer Sam Raimi to reimagine The Last of Us as a feature film at Screen Gems. Raimi was on board to produce the movie and co-writ the script with Druckmann, and according to the rumor mill, Bruce Campbell and Maisie Williams were eyed for the starring roles.

However, that project ultimately died in development hell, and it was reported in 2016 that the film fizzled out due to “creative differences.” Years would pass by before Druckmann pursued a TV series adaptation instead with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin, and that’s the series that we’re now getting at HBO. In a new interview with the New Yorker, however, Druckmann touched on what went wrong with the planned movie, making it clear that the issues were not with Raimi, but with the studio heads.

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According to Druckmann, studio executives had constantly asked for certain aspects of the adaptation to be bigger and “sexier.” He also said that he envisioned something like No Country for Old Men for his “aesthetic touchstone” while the studio wanted the movie to look more like World War Z. In addition to these problems, Druckmann also started to fear that a two-hour movie wouldn’t be appropriate to best adapt the video game, which consists of 15 hours of gameplay. In any case, Screen Gems dropped the project, putting Druckmann back to the drawing board until PlayStation’s Carter Swan put him in touch with Mazin.

Neil Druckmann Says This Will Be the Best Video Game Adaptation

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Druckmann says that he’s so happy with what he’s come up with working alongside Mazin that he’s confident The Last of Us will be “the best, most authentic game adaptation.” However, he goes on to admit that this is not exactly a very high bar, referring to the many video game adaptations that have failed in the past. For his part, Mazin agrees, but he adds that he happened to pick the video game with “the best story” to adapt, giving him an advantage over most other adaptations.

The Last of Us stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, following the two as survivors in a post-apocalyptic world filled with murderous raiders and dangerous mutants. The series will debut on HBO on Jan. 15, 2023. You can watch the official trailer below.