The Last of Us has arguably one of the best stories told in all gaming, which is why there was much trepidation when a tv adaptation was announced. However, after the first look and subsequent trailers, many fans are excited by what they see due to how faithful it seems to be to the source material. In an interview with The New Yorker, Executive Producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the creator of The Last of Us and current Co-President at Naughty Dog talked about partnering together for the show and why things are changing when it comes to video game adaptations. Neil Druckmann also talks about what’s next for Naughty Dog and shares a new detail about the game from the studio.
Talking about the many failed video game adaptations in the past, Druckmann says one of the reasons that they do is trying to replicate what games do. “The other thing that people get wrong is that they think people want to see the gameplay onscreen.”
A prime example of this is 2005’s Doom starring Dwyane Johnson and Karl Urban based on the popular, pioneering first-person shooter. The film featured an extended sequence that re-created the first-person perspective. For five minutes, audiences were Urban’s character in his shoes as he blazed his way through creature after creature culminating in a fight with a Pinky.
Mazin noted, “Doom is also a perfect example of something that you don’t actually need to adapt. There’s nothing there that you can’t generate on your own—”
“Other than the name Doom, and marketing,” Druckmann cut in.
“That’s the thing,” Mazin said. “If what the property is giving you is a name and a built-in thing, you’re basically setting yourself up for disaster, because the fans will be, like, ‘Where’s my fucking thing?’ and everybody else will be, like, ‘What’s Doom?’ And then you’re in trouble.”
Both believe The Last of Us will be different. “Hopefully, this will put that video game curse to bed,” Druckmann said.
Mazin laughed and shook his head. “I’m telling you—it’s gonna make it worse.”
“I cheated,” Mazin said. I just took the one with the best story. Like, I love Assassin’s Creed. But when they announced that they were gonna make it as a movie I was, like, I don’t know how! Because the joy of it is the gameplay. The story is impenetrable.” Mazin added, “I still am struggling to understand how Abstergo and the Animus and the Isu—I mean, the Isu alone . . .”
Talking about the release of the show and how it compares to the release of the game a decade ago, Druckmann said he was unsure of what the audience would think. “I kept thinking to myself, I don’t want it to end on a cliffhanger, because I don’t know if we’ll make a sequel,” he said, “and I don’t want to make any compromises that I’ll regret.” Leading up to the release of the show on January 15, Druckmann says he feels the same way. “If everybody else hates it, I don’t care—because I love it.”
“I think it will change things,” Druckmann said. “Sometimes adaptations haven’t worked because the source material is not strong enough. Sometimes they haven’t worked because the people making it don’t understand the source material.”
He believes things are changing in Hollywood in terms of its relationships to video games. More tv and film professionals have grown up playing them and there was an increasing flow of talent between the industries. Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla has scored The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. Hailey Gross, best known for HBO’s Westworld, worked with Neil on Part II as his co-writer.
Talking about his next project, Druckmann says that it’s a game “structured more like a TV show” than anything else Naughty Dog has made. With his own approach having changed working with people from different mediums, he has taken a highly unusual step. Neil Druckmann has assembled a writer’s room.
As for what is something we’ll have to wait and see.