‘The Last Of Us’ HBO Series Looks Like A Shockingly Good Video Game Adaptation In First Trailer

I know it’s just a teaser trailer but good grief HBO’s live-action adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us looks bloody spectacular!

The TV show comes to HBO next year and stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie, the two central protagonists of the story—both Game Of Thrones alumni as well. The series will also star Anna Torv (Fringe) as Tess, Nick Offerman (Parks & Rec) as Bill and Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) in a role made up for the series, Kathleen, the leader of a revolutionary group in Kansas City, Missouri. This last one was a surprise to me.

You never know how these things will go. Mostly, video game adaptations are a mess and always have been. And these days, it seems like most creative teams charged with adapting a book or game or anime throw the source material into the meat grinder (yes, I’m looking at you Netflix’s live-action Resident Alien adaptation, cancelled after just one season).

Bad video game adaptations made by people who don’t seem to understand either video games or the kinds of stories they tell are a dime a dozen, so it’s rather wonderful to see a show like The Last Of Us adapt—or apparently adapt—with such TLC paid to the source material.

Frankly, this looks about as close to a 1:1 adaptation as you could imagine, from the casting choices to the aesthetic of the post-apocalyptic world. It all looks and feels just like the game. It’s a riveting trailer with very little dialogue. It’s perfect, scary, the clickers look terrifying. It makes me want to play the game again, which I’ve been meaning to do now that the remake is installed on my PS5.

I’ve watched this maybe four or five times now and I still get chills by the end. The simple fact that you can easily recognize so many scenes from the game makes this an instant win in my book. Instead of completely changing what worked so well narratively, it appears showrunners Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann (who directed the game) are hewing as close to the game’s story as possible. Extraordinary. What a wild notion!

As far as games to adapt go, The Last Of Us is a pretty perfect choice. It’s a linear, story-driven game with compelling characters, terrifying monsters and one of the best endings in any video game I’ve ever played. Such a good ending that I still think the sequel was a bad idea. In fact, I would really prefer that the sequel didn’t get a live-action remake.

What do you think of this trailer? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.

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