While we already know The Last of Us will be made into a movie, and that the game’s Creative Director Neil Druckmann is writing the film adaptation’s script, don’t expect everything to be a point-by-point representation of the critically acclaimed title from Naughty Dog.
Not only that, but Druckmann has revealed that he’s cutting out parts of the game to make it fit into a two hour movie. Speaking to MCV, Druckmann said there’s too much content in the game, which lasts roughly 15 hours long, that it’s required to cut a few parts out.
In two hours you can’t tell the same kind of story that you can in a game like The Last of Us, which is 15 hours…I’m in the middle of it now, and it’s been super difficult because there’s so much that happens in The Last of Us – even just in the cinematics – that can’t fit in a film, let alone all the gameplay in-between and dialogue.
Druckmann added that the film, which is being collaborated on by Evil Dead director Sam Raimi, will have some parts that are “quite different,” but that it will still clearly be about Joel and Ellie.
It almost has this novel quality as far as how much content there is…And a film works really well when it’s laser-focused, so the first part of it was like: well, what is this story really about? It’s clearly about Joel and Ellie. What are the most important beats that we can’t lose? Start with those, and cut everything else out.
It’s been really difficult to cut certain things out, but what I’m starting to get this is really focused narrative that’s about these two characters. Some parts will be similar to the game and some parts will be quite different, but it’s kind of interesting in helping me understand this other medium and its strengths compared to video games.
The Last of Us movie adaptation still doesn’t have a release date, but it’s been rumored that Maisie Williams, who plays Arya Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones, is being eyed to play Ellie.
Would you want the movie to be very different from the game it’s based on or should Druckmann try and stay as faithful to the source material?
[Source: MCV]
