Just ask any true Mario fan: results aren’t guaranteed if you take the controller away and turn even the most beloved video games into stories fans should watch instead of play. But HBO shows no signs of trepidation as it ramps up the buzz for the upcoming series adaptation of The last of usthe post-apocalyptic PlayStation classic set to hit the platform sometime early next year.
HBO Picked a Seismic TV Event – August 21 Premiere House of the Dragon – to show off the first teaser footage of the upcoming series, giving fans their first look at the character of stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, who play Joel and Ellie respectively, the video game’s unlikely lead duo. If rolling out that first look to millions of viewers was meant to be a vote of confidence in the show’s video game bona fide, well… it certainly worked, according to a few Naughty Dog creators who were with the franchise from the very beginning.
Recently talked to Weekly entertainment, Matthew Gallant and Sean Escayg — designers who worked on both the 2013 original game and the just-released PlayStation 5 remake — admitted that the teaser got them excited about seeing Joel and Ellie’s story jump on TV. made ahead. “It gave me goosebumps when I saw the trailer, so little footage as that was,” Gallant shared with EW. “I felt like I wanted to watch it over and over and capture all the little details.”
Sure, the allure of star power helps. In addition to Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Ramsey (Game of Thrones), HBO’s take on The last of us features Nick Offerman as hermit survivor Bill and Diego Luna as Joel’s brother Tommy. But what really struck Naughty Dog’s game makers was the series’ apparent fidelity in capturing the soul of the studio’s groundbreaking game story.
“It was a challenge of, how do you create this experience that feels like you’re re-enacting the movie version?” Escayg said about creating a video game that tells its story not only through cutscenes, but also through moment-to-moment gameplay. The series, supported by Emmy-winning Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin, added Gallant, seems to understand that ethos in a way that often eludes other major game tweaks.
Studios “often take a really big creative license with the original franchise,” Gallant explains. “This looks like it will be so authentic to the original games. And as someone who loves the original games, I’m so excited to see it explored in another medium.”
While neither game designers are involved with the HBO series, each is part of the Naughty Dog team that rebuilt their 2013 masterpiece for the new PlayStation 5. The Last of Us Part I, the bottom-up remake of the current generation of the original game released last week. But there’s a direct line from the game studio to the series: Naughty Dog president Neil Druckmann co-developed the HBO project with Mazin, and the two share the story writing duties for the 10-episode first season.
Perhaps those close creative ties are key to making a video game crossover successful, Gallant said. “They really care about the art direction. That two second clip [from the HBO trailer] of the infected embedded in the wall. That looks like it’s out of the game. The way the characters’ outfits look. The way certain lines are delivered in that trailer. That is often not the case with video game adaptations.”
HBO hasn’t announced a precise premiere date yet, but the series is expected to closely tie in with the post-apocalyptic encounter between Joel and Ellie and their perilous shared journey through a wasteland of fungus-infected plague victims. Also starring Anna Torv as Tess, Merle Dandridge (who reprises her in-game voice role) as Marlene, and original Joel and Ellie voice actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson in still-secret roles, The last of us will premiere on HBO sometime in early 2023.
Looking for more horror? Watch Reginald the Vampire and Chucky Season 2 on SYFY this fall.
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