The Last of Us TV Series

[Jen]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1235619844218707968

So The Last of Us is being made into a TV series. I'm not often a fan of video game to screen adaptations. However, with Neil Druckmann on board, this might actually be different and I'm kind of excited for it.

Anyone else excited about this? Or are you dubious?

 

[Deleted member 21244]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1235619844218707968

So The Last of Us is being made into a TV series. I'm not often a fan of video game to screen adaptations. However, with Neil Druckmann on board, this might actually be different and I'm kind of excited for it.

Anyone else excited about this? Or are you dubious?

I'm really hyped about it
HBO is making it, and the same people who made the beautiful series tv chernobyl are on board alongside drunckmann... So the masterpiece i guaranteed

 

[Rain611]

I'm a little skeptical because I'm not sure the story will be done justice but I guess time will tell.

 

[UniqTeas]

It's a wait and see kind of deal for me.

I think "The Last Of Us" had the BEST Game Script of all time. But is there enough information about their world to create an entire series on? I am just a little worried that the TV world and the Game world won't react well to another. But I will be happy to see it done well!

 

[Turo602]

It's a wait and see kind of deal for me.

I think "The Last Of Us" had the BEST Game Script of all time. But is there enough information about their world to create an entire series on? I am just a little worried that the TV world and the Game world won't react well to another. But I will be happy to see it done well!

I was thinking the same thing. We're only on the 2nd game, so a TV series seems like it's either gonna be stretched very thin or just completely make stuff up. I was against them doing a film because it seems redundant, just like the Uncharted film feels redundant.

Naughty Dog are already such great story tellers with their writing, voice acting, motion capture, and cinematic experiences. There's no way a film is going to improve on what we've already gotten, and it'll be worse so because you actually get to play through it with the game rather than just watch a cheap imitation in 2 hours with live action actors that can potentially miss the mark.

But since this is a TV show, I think it has the potential to work. The Last of Us has a very interesting world with a lot to be explored, but if we're sticking with Joel and Ellie again, then I just don't see how this can co-exist with the games. Unless they use the show as an opportunity to fill the gap between 1 and 2, which I think would be the best route to take.

But regardless, I think it's too soon to be excited for this yet. I'm still waiting on the Halo TV series which was announced back in 2013 with the Xbox One and we're already jumping into next gen and still nothing. :lol:

 

[Deleted member 21244]

I was thinking the same thing. We're only on the 2nd game, so a TV series seems like it's either gonna be stretched very thin or just completely make stuff up. I was against them doing a film because it seems redundant, just like the Uncharted film feels redundant.

Naughty Dog are already such great story tellers with their writing, voice acting, motion capture, and cinematic experiences. There's no way a film is going to improve on what we've already gotten, and it'll be worse so because you actually get to play through it with the game rather than just watch a cheap imitation in 2 hours with live action actors that can potentially miss the mark.

But since this is a TV show, I think it has the potential to work. The Last of Us has a very interesting world with a lot to be explored, but if we're sticking with Joel and Ellie again, then I just don't see how this can co-exist with the games. Unless they use the show as an opportunity to fill the gap between 1 and 2, which I think would be the best route to take.

But regardless, I think it's too soon to be excited for this yet. I'm still waiting on the Halo TV series which was announced back in 2013 with the Xbox One and we're already jumping into next gen and still nothing. :lol:

I doubt the TV series will co exist whit the videogame series, it will probably be a rapresntation of the first last of us game, and knowing HBO this season it will probably have few episode like cernobyl and game of thrones, the potential is very high, HBO did sometimes deliver so good TV series that can easy match the best movie both on story quality and visual quality
It will be pretty useless for them to just tell what happened between the last of us 1 and 2 because the series had to get as many people as possible not just the videogame fan, so they must retell the story from the start

I really hope that they will not continue the series after the source material will end like they did whit the ****ty game of thrones last season, but there is risk because if the series became successful i seriously doubt HBO will wait for the last of us part 3 to came out and will continue the story on they re own, and this can be a problem

 

[Turo602]

I doubt the TV series will co exist whit the videogame series, it will probably be a rapresntation of the first last of us game, and knowing HBO this season it will probably have few episode like cernobyl and game of thrones, the potential is very high, HBO did sometimes deliver so good TV series that can easy match the best movie both on story quality and visual quality
It will be pretty useless for them to just tell what happened between the last of us 1 and 2 because the series had to get as many people as possible not just the videogame fan, so they must retell the story from the start

I really hope that they will not continue the series after the source material will end like they did whit the ****ty game of thrones last season, but there is risk because if the series became successful i seriously doubt HBO will wait for the last of us part 3 to came out and will continue the story on they re own, and this can be a problem

I'm speaking long term. Retelling the games doesn't leave them with much material. If they do retell the first game, they could only stretch that out for so long and it would be terrible. They could do that for one season, but then what? Start adapting the fresh Last of Us Part II for season 2? Now what? Take a long hiatus until they finish the third game so they can copy that too? The series needs to exist in its own bubble to be successful. It shouldn't be hindered by the video games.

Ideally, a good writer can tell a new story without destroying the story of the games, but also get across important information from the games throughout, for a new audience. Taking place between the first 2 games gives them a lot of freedom to tell a long term story with Joel and Ellie that could potentially cover 5 seasons given the 5 year gap. I'd take that than watching what I can play from beginning to end in like 3 days, over the course of a few weeks.

 

[xMobilemux]

Oh boy, Duckman is involved, that can only mean good things right?

I mean it's not like one of the many directors of the failed Uncharted movie refereed to him as a "jerk", "saboteur" and "hitchhiker".
Hmmmm.......I wonder why the Uncharted movie is struggling.

But that doesn't matter, he's involved with a Last of Us TV series, it's gonna go great!

 

[Turo602]

Oh boy, Duckman is involved, that can only mean good things right?

I mean it's not like one of the many directors of the failed Uncharted movie refereed to him as a "jerk", "saboteur" and "hitchhiker".
Hmmmm.......I wonder why the Uncharted movie is struggling.

But that doesn't matter, he's involved with a Last of Us TV series, it's gonna go great!

That was in regards to Uncharted and him stealing Amy Hennig's credit for it. The Last of Us is his though, so I don't see the problem.

 

[xMobilemux]

I won't be watching this anyway, I didn't like Last of Us and didn't bother with Unchated 4.

But if it ends up being repeatedly delayed because of "creative differences" I'm gonna burst out laughing.

 

[Deleted member 21244]

Oh boy, Duckman is involved, that can only mean good things right?

I mean it's not like one of the many directors of the failed Uncharted movie refereed to him as a "jerk", "saboteur" and "hitchhiker".
Hmmmm.......I wonder why the Uncharted movie is struggling.

But that doesn't matter, he's involved with a Last of Us TV series, it's gonna go great!

They just announced Antonio Banderas to play an unspecified role in the uncharted movies so i think it's now going smoothly

https://uncharted.fandom.com/wiki/Uncharted_(film)

Here you can read all the development history, there were some script problem ecc

@Turo602 maybe they just want to make few season whit few episode whitout stretching it for too long
Or it will be a self conclusive series like chernobyl who knows

 

[UniqTeas]

I suppose I am still on board with the Uncharted movie. The level of issues it has had is pretty scary. We're gonna get a Frankenstein of a movie. But Mark Wahlberg in a Sully role sounds fun. And I think Tom Holland makes sense for a young version of Nathan Drake... but Tom Holland isn't going to look much older than he does even in the future. He isn't going to get taller or grow up more. He'll look like he is 17 until he is 35. haha

 

[Awebb]

I used to be a sucker for video game adaptations, but I seem to have lost all interest recently. I haven't watched The Witcher yet, although I really like the games. The Last of Us and Uncharted are already TV shows with playable passages, so I don't see what that'll accomplish. I'd like to see more like the Resident Evil CGI movies that expand the universe of a game series.

 

[Jonipoon]

I'm not a big fan of TV series in the first place. Very, very, very, very few times have I enjoyed and followed a TV series, because I dislike the whole concept of dragging out a plot over the course of different episodes and seasons. There are a few shows that actually try to keep each episode contained within its own story, but even then there are other things that usually makes them less interesting and appealing compared to movies. Yes, I'm a movie guy because I believe that's the ultimate format for telling a moving picture. Some may argue that TV shows are better because they believe that longer screen time equals more deepening of the characters. That's simply not true, longer screen time does not mean that you automatically get interesting characters and good story. The only reason why people like sh**ty TV series is because they've watched them so many times that eventually you become attached to the characters and story even though they're sh*t.

Anyway, when it comes to this specific news about TLoU getting a live-action TV adaptation, I honestly couldn't care less. I love the first game and I believe it truly has the best storytelling of a video game ever, but there's no point in adapting it for a show or even a movie. One of the reasons why the storytelling in TLoU is so effective is because a lot of the bonding between Joel and Ellie occurs during actual gameplay - not cutscenes. And we all know that while cutscenes are easily adaptable, gameplay is basically unadaptable. That is to say, nobody wants to see Joel boosting Ellie up a wall for half an hour. It works for a video game but not for a moving picture.

The only way I could see this work is if the TV show takes place in the same universe but instead focuses on new characters.

 

[Turo602]

I'm not a big fan of TV series in the first place. Very, very, very, very few times have I enjoyed and followed a TV series, because I dislike the whole concept of dragging out a plot over the course of different episodes and seasons. There are a few shows that actually try to keep each episode contained within its own story, but even then there are other things that usually makes them less interesting and appealing compared to movies. Yes, I'm a movie guy because I believe that's the ultimate format for telling a moving picture. Some may argue that TV shows are better because they believe that longer screen time equals more deepening of the characters. That's simply not true, longer screen time does not mean that you automatically get interesting characters and good story. The only reason why people like sh**ty TV series is because they've watched them so many times that eventually you become attached to the characters and story even though they're sh*t.

Both mediums are reliant on writing and acting when it comes to making stories and characters interesting. I doubt anyone actually thinks screentime is related to this at all. Movies are great for telling self-contained stories, which is why they often show their weakness when adapting stories from other mediums. It's just simply not possible to capture all the nuance and details that books, television, and video games do in such a short amount of time. Which is why television is much more ideal for adaptations due to their long form storytelling that can allow for much richer character development. Regardless, a great writer can take advantage of either medium's strengths and tell equally great stories. I don't see why one has to be better than the other.

 

[Jonipoon]

Both mediums are reliant on writing and acting when it comes to making stories and characters interesting. I doubt anyone actually thinks screentime is related to this at all. Movies are great for telling self-contained stories, which is why they often show their weakness when adapting stories from other mediums. It's just simply not possible to capture all the nuance and details that books, television, and video games do in such a short amount of time. Which is why television is much more ideal for adaptations due to their long form storytelling that can allow for much richer character development. Regardless, a great writer can take advantage of either medium's strengths and tell equally great stories. I don't see why one has to be better than the other.

I didn't say it wasn't possible for TV series to be any good, I just said I haven't been able to find that many that captivate me as much as films do. And you're right, it has a lot to do with self-contained stories which is something I do prefer. A book is actually pretty self-contained, because you read it at your own pace and you're in control. The same goes for video games, you play it at your own pace so you're in control. With a movie, you're also more in control because you know the movie will be self-contained and its going to be over in around 2 hours. With a TV show, it's not going to be over soon, and you're not in control because its not self-contained. You have to commit much more time and energy, and the general structure of TV shows is to keep on dragging the same story over and over again (think The Walking Dead, for example). The original concept of TV shows is to keep people hooked, so in order to keep people hooked TV episodes tend to delay important information on purpose in order to make you want to watch the next episode. I find that to be cheap. Of course you can find the same tendencies in all entertainment, for example certain chapters in books tend to end with an unexpected twist that will make you wanna read the next chapter immediately. The difference here is the visualization of books is happening in your head, whereas a TV show has to visualize that 'urge' into wanting to watch the next episode.

Of course its possible to adapt books into great movies, you just have to tweak the story in certain ways to fit the format. And although there have been some costly TV shows throughout the years, in general they do not have the same budget or high level of production quality as films. Again, not saying that TV shows can't have high level of production quality, but it is more of an exception.

I think David Stewart explains it even better than me:

EDIT: Lastly, I'm not here to trash on people for enjoying TV shows. We all enjoy different things. Like if I tell someone I don't like rock n roll music, but they do, I can explain why I personally don't get the appeal, but it doesn't take away the appeal that one person gets from it.