We are, like many of you, frothing at the mouth to get our first look at HBO’s long-gestating series adaptation of The Last of Us, the two-game series launched by Naughty Dog back in 2013. Everything we’ve seen and heard thus far indicates that series creators Craig Mazin (HBO’s Chernobyl, screenwriter on the upcoming Borderlands movie) and Neil Druckmann (director on both of Naughty Dog’s Last of Us games) have created something truly special with this one.
The good news is, we won’t have to wait much longer to see it: The Last of Us starts rolling out on HBO later this month! The bad news, if you’d consider it as such, is that the show may only stick around for two seasons. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Druckmann makes it very clear that he and Mazin have zero plans to continue the series beyond the point where The Last of Us Part II ended.
Says Druckmann:
“We have no plans to tell any stories beyond adapting the games. We won’t run into the same issue as Game of Thrones since Part II doesn’t end on a cliffhanger.”
Adds Mazin:
“I don’t have any interest in a spinning-plates-go-on-forever show. When it becomes a perpetual motion machine, it just can’t help but get kind of … stupid. Endings mean everything to me.”
Y’know what? This is a pretty healthy (and wise!) way to look at things. Of course The Last of Us could turn into a monster hit for HBO, but if the mission is to solely adapt the games, that mission will have reached its conclusion after a second – or, depending on how long they’re willing to drag things out, third – season of the show. Maybe one day Naughty Dog will release The Last of Us Part III (Druckmann does say there’s “more story to tell” in that world), but if so, that’d be quite a few years down the line.
Nothing further to report at this time, but do stay tuned for further coverage on The Last of Us in between now and its January 15th debut on HBO. Y’all already have your watch parties scheduled, right?
