The Last of Us [TV Show]

[Moonface]

Craig Mazin, the creator of the acclaimed limited series Chernobyl, is reteaming with HBO to adapt The Last of Us, the massive Sony PlayStation video game franchise.

In a rare development in the world of video game adaptations, the writer and creative director of the game, Neil Druckmann, is also involved and will work with Mazin to pen and executive produce what is intended to be a series.


Carolyn Strauss will also executive produce along with Evan Wells, the president of Naughty Dog, the Santa Monica-based developer of the game. The project is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television in association with PlayStation Productions. It will be the first television series from PlayStation Productions.

Full Story / Source

Well I'd much rather this be done than a movie, especially since I don't think a movie could tell the whole story in 90-120 minutes without having to cut corners. I think the only thing that could go wrong with this is the production side, since the actual story and writing is already set up and it isn't going to get butchered by someone detached from anyone who worked on the game. My only wish is that if the series takes off that we get maybe some small side stuff with other people as one shots or something to build the world and show it from other views and in areas Joel and Ellie will never go to (even other countries), and it'll be nice to see some stuff that is actually new rather than an adaptation of what I already know about.

[Karo]

Honestly the Last of Us really has amazing story potential like The Walking Dead, but with spore zombies and while I most likely probably won't watch it right away, but if I ever do get around to it I'm hoping to see something quality.

[ShiraNoMai]

I hope nothing but the best for this and hope it gets more people into the lore of this series, but I honestly don't think this nor the movie should exist. Just let it exist on its own in its own original media.

[Daltonio]

I would be all for this if it was a new story in the world of The Last of Us. (Like how a sequel was originally going to be). Don't give us Joel and Ellie, their story is already told and no matter how good the show is, there is no way they'll ever be able to top the game. The world Naughty Dog built is ripe for stories though, so if they'd just give us a brand new story and original characters but set in that world, it could have been great.

[Moonface]

I could see them using the first games story just to get non-game fans in, and then branch out. I don't think having it in the universe with new stories straight away would attract anyone but those who already played the game.

[ShiraNoMai]

I was saying to Moony the other day that I'd like episodes to feature a single character's arc, during a specified time period, and over the season would slowly start to patch together what happened towards whatever ending they intend to create for it.

[WR91]

I heard about this not too long ago and I must say, I'd watch it!

[Moonface]

Since I know @Nightingale is interested in this, and there's some new stuff about the show, I figured I'd bring this thread back to life.

A while ago a few early set photos leaked from the Boston QZ, and this past week some more set photos came out of the Boston QZ but with far more detailing: https://i.redd.it/d8vzw05u5cm71.jpg
Linking it so people who don't want to see it can avoid it.

I'll still need to see a trailer to decide how much I want to watch this series, but I will say the sets are on point. The Boston QZ is the only area I've seen any set photos for though, so I'm wondering if any other areas from the game have even been started on yet. If not and given how we're still only seeing the same area, I wonder how progress is actually going on this?

[Moonface]

This is the first official photo from the show and also the first that shows any cast members in costume.

My immediate thought on this shot is Ellie's hair is too clean and well kept for a world where showering with soap and conditioner and even fully clean water isn't easily feasible, and although it's minor in the grand scheme of things it still makes the world and characters feel less authentic when looking good takes precedence over reality.

The scene itself is completely original though, and i wonder if it's maybe during the Salt Lake City section since that is the first and only time Ellie mentions a plane. In the game though she sees it on the side of a bus as an advertisement though.

[ShiraNoMai]

Well, it's 2022 now, and the show is starting to wrap up season 1 filming very soon. From things seen on set, to calls for specific type casting, here's everything we know so far about what the show will contain.

Rumors (from verified leaks) So Far:

• The outbreak now occurs in 2003, not 2013. (confirmed by various props and casting calls)
  
• Pittsburgh QZ events now take place in Kansas City, MO. (confirmed by props)
  
• Instead of meeting Tommy and Maria at a dam, Joel and Ellie meet them in Jackson. (confirmed by the guy who snuck on set)
  
• Joel and Ellie spend time in Jackson, and see a Christmas tree, and various other locations that appear in TLOU2 (Concept art + set photos)
  
• There is a location in Jackson known as "the heroes' house". (Concept art and leaks from people living near the set)
  
• It looks like Boston scenes take place in fall(?) (leaked photos)
  
• It looks like some of the university scenes take place in winter(?) (leaked photos)
  

• There is apparently something going on in Jakarta with a scientist and a general in the 80s? (leaked by extras)
  
• Probably Frank + Bill backstory, since Frank is alive.
  
• We probably see Hunter backstory, including their overthrow of FEDRA. (leaked videos/photos)
  
• There is possibly at least one sex scene (intimacy coordinator).
  
• Tess possibly has unrequited love for Joel (casting call)
  
• The plot of Left Behind (at least with Riley) is covered (casting, leaked photos)
  
• There is a scene at some kind of biomedical conference (leaked photos).
  
• Outbreak features a plane crash (leak from extras).
  
• Possibly more pre-outbreak stuff involving Sarah, her school, and buying Joel's watch (filming schedule, set photos).
  
• Possibly content from American Dreams (shooting schedules, casting calls for students).
  

Thanks to The Last of Us TV Show Sub Reddit for the gathered information!

[Moonface]

I'm not sure why the outbreak year needed to be moved. I was going to originally say it's because the time skip would place the current day in 2023, but when that happens doesn't matter because society would still be frozen in 2003. Seems like a completely unnecessary change that serves no purpose.

I don't get the third point. Joel and Ellie meet them in Jackson already because that is where the dam is located. Unless instead of meeting them at the dam they're meeting them at another location in Jackson and then go to the dam.

Locations from TLOU2 being present in the dam makes some sense, since it's obvious everything new seen in TLOU2 would not have been added in a five year time period, especially since most buildings are just repurposed rather than fresh builds.

The university being pushed closer to a winter setting is a good idea. In the few hours Joel and Ellie spend there it goes from a fall appearance to then snowing outside, but the weather would have already been showing signs of incoming snowfall beforehand.

On the Jakarta point, I agree with the top comment in the source link that it could be purely for a news report on the TV at the start, since where Joel and Sarah live is a rural area and while local news would be covering the sudden outbreak there, there would be news stories of other areas already airing considering the cities got hit first and newspapers are already circulating the story of an outbreak.

Hunter backstory is probably to convey the various scenes and collectibles Joel and Ellie can discover and comment on during their journey through Pittsburgh, and would make more sense to be covered in a singular segment than be split across episodes entirely. I expect some key parts Joel and Ellie comment on will remain theirs to show off though.

The only sex scenes that would make any sense is either Joel and Tess, Bill and Frank (I'd rather it be left subtle like in the game though than on the nose like this because I preferred the way orientation wasn't a focus point on any character and was just naturally figured out by players), or Tommy and Maria. No others would feasibly occur because no other pairings are in the game.

Left Behind being included was a given. Hopefully it also includes the present day events of Ellie helping Joel, although at the same time I liked the way the base game leaves the player hanging on whether Joel is okay or not for a while.

I'm hoping that plane crash shows up in a scene with Ellie, since she has a dream about a plane crash during the Spring arc but admits to never having been on a plane (obviously) or really having much knowledge of them.

More normalcy for Sarah's part makes sense seeing it, since it would build tension better than just suddenly kicking everything off like the game does. It'll probably be like how the opening to A Quiet Place Part 2 is.


Overall, the changes aren't overly bad besides the outbreak year being changed and Pittsburgh taking place in Kansas City. I don't get the point of either of those changes at all.

[ShiraNoMai]

I think the point is to bring it to current day, with freezing it in older times making it easier to make things for, like older cars actually being old (2013 wasn't that long ago... christ it'll be 10 years next year) and the current present being well...actually present.

[Moonface]

I think the point is to bring it to current day, with freezing it in older times making it easier to make things for, like older cars actually being old (2013 wasn't that long ago... christ it'll be 10 years next year) and the current present being well...actually present.

But there's no need for it to be in current day, because The Last of Us takes place in 2033 but the world itself is frozen in 2013 when the outbreak happened. Nothing new is developed or made after 2013, so setting the show into 2003 instead just means the world is now frozen in that year instead of 2013. It'd be better to bump the outbreak year to something newer so that there's no issues with buildings being shown that didn't exist in 2003 as they do now. Making the present day of the show be 2023 doesn't really matter because nothing about the world we know now can exist in the universe of TLoU in 2023 since the world basically went to shit 20 years prior.

[ShiraNoMai]

I imagine it's just for making viewers identify with reality in the same way they did for the OG being set in 2013 (the beginning, at least) to give a sense of perspective. Sort of like a "wow, this could've been our reality" kind of thing.

[Moonface]

I imagine it's just for making viewers identify with reality in the same way they did for the OG being set in 2013 (the beginning, at least) to give a sense of perspective. Sort of like a "wow, this could've been our reality" kind of thing.

Hmm, good point. I overlooked that the game released in the same year its outbreak day is set, although moving the date back ten years doesn't update the perspective for viewers for the outbreak and when this shows present day takes place it will only mirror reality in year number alone and nothing else.