HBO’s silver screen adaptation of The Last of Us premieres next month, and executive producer Craig Mazin thinks highly of the source material.
“It’s an open-and-shut case: this is the greatest story that has ever been told in video games,” Mazin said via Empire.
For Mazin, having human characters like Joel and Ellie set The Last of Us apart from many other video game protagonists.
“They didn’t shoot anything out of their eyeballs,” Mazin explains. “They were just people. And that, in and of itself, is remarkably rare in games. The fact that they kept it so grounded, and really made you feel – I had never experienced anything like it, and I’ve been playing video games since 1977.”
Of course, bad video game adaptations are pretty common, which Mazin is well aware of, and he is working closely with The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann to ensure HBO’s show does the game justice.
“Games themselves are often brilliant to play, and not at all brilliant to watch when dramatized,” Mazin continues. “Neil and I always knew to ask, ‘Why are we only doing what’s in the game? What can we do to expand?’ The greatest story ever told in video games might just become one of the greatest stories ever told on TV.”
The Last of Us will premiere on Jan. 15, 2023. Most trailers look fairly on-point, especially when compared to the PS5 remake.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
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