HBO just released their sizzle reel and it gave us a teaser with a quick first look at Sony’s The Last Of Us live-action adaptation.
The Last Of Us is based on a video game of the same name which was originally released in 2013. The story happens in an alternate present where mutated Codyceps fungus that creates human zombies have taken over the world. The story focuses on Joel and Ellie’s relationship resembling that of a father and daughter. Since the two characters have lost their families, both of them try to survive with each other. The game has received high praises for it’s story and gameplay.
The HBO series stars Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Narcos and Game of Thrones) and Bella Ramsey (The Worst Witch, His Dark Materials, Game Of Thrones). Pascal takes the role of Joel and Ramsay as Ellie.
HBO’s sizzle reel highlights a lot of their current shows like House of Dragons, His Dark Materials, The White House Plumbers, Doom Patrol and so much more. But HBO’s pièce de résistance is The Last of Us. The very short trailer gave us familiar moments from the game and also highlights the actors themselves. The scene where Pedro Pascal carries his child while running is the most iconic scene mainly because it’s the intro of the game.
HBO Gives Us A Teaser Of The Last Of Us
The Last of Us, The Idol, Succession, The White Lotus, The White House Plumbers, Industry, and so much more are coming soon to @hbomax.⁰
Now this is my kind of dream. pic.twitter.com/LDuJSiAFSv
— HBO (@HBO) August 21, 2022
The lines said by Bella Ramsay:
Everybody I have cared for has either died or left me.
And Pascal answers:
You have no idea what loss is.
Both are taken from the same scene but in vise versa.
In that specific scene in the game, Ellie talks to Joel about her being passed to Tommy to be her next guardian. Telling Joel that he’s afraid of losing her. Ellie then talks about Joel’s lost daughter, Sarah.
Ellie:
I’m not her you know.
Joel:
What?
Ellie:
Maria told me about Sarah.
Joel:
Ellie, you are treading on mighty thin ice here.
Ellie:
I’m sorry about your daughter Joel. But I have lost people too.
Joel:
You have no idea what loss is.
Ellie:
Everybody I have cared for has either died or left me. Everybody except for you. So don’t tell me that I’ll be safer with someone else because the truth is I would be more scared.
This is promising because it seems that HBO’s production seems to be faithful to the game.
The trailer also shows a quick look at Nick Offerman who plays Bill.
HBO Gives Us A Teaser Of The Last Of Us
Image: Sony Entertainment
Fans of the game have been wondering how the HBO adaptation will turn out. Video game adaptations have been a hit or miss. So far, the best one is the animated League of Legends Netflix series Arcane which even won several awards. Amazon’s high budget adaptation of Microsoft’s Halo had mixed reviews. But on a positive note, Halo was not terrible, just not what fans expected it to be. In the past years, we’ve been getting more and more TV adaptations of video games like Castlevania, DOTA, Dragon Quest. As a video gamer myself, I worry about how the adaptations will turn out. But, all in all, these adaptations have been getting better.
The game’s story and setting was fit for a film adaptation. Which is why many tried to make it into a movie since its release. Sony even first announced this back in May 2014. They even have Sam Raimi then to produce it. Notably, the character Ellie caught Maisie Williams’ interest. In fact, she was already in talks with Raimi and The Last of Us writer Neil Druckmann (Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, Jack and Daxter: The Lost Frontier). However, the movie didn’t push through because of disagreements with creative direction.
The HBO is developing the series with Druckman and with Craig Mazin (Chernobyl, Identity Theft).
