HBO’s The Last Of Us TV series will adapt the first game (2013’s The Last Of Us) but there will be changes and deviations from how it originally happened in the game.

Speaking with IGN during SXSW 2021, The Last Of Us game director and TV series executive producer Neil Druckmann spoke about their (including showrunner Craig Mazin) approach to the upcoming live-action adaptation:

“We talked at length [that season 1 of the show is going to be [the first game], the philosophical underpinnings of the story were essential.

As far as the superficial things, like should [a character] wear the same plaid shirt or the same red shirt?

They might or might not appear in it, that’s way less important to us than getting the core of who these people are and the core of their journey.

Things sometimes stay pretty close.

It’s funny to see my dialogue there from the games in HBO scripts.

And sometimes they deviate greatly to much better effect because we are dealing with a different medium.

For example, in the game, there’s so much action you have to have to train the player about mechanics.

You have to have more violence and more spectacle to some degree than you would need on a TV show because you don’t need to train people on how to use a gun.

So that’s something that’s been really different, and HBO’s been great in pushing us to move away from hardcore action and focus more on the drama of the character.

Some of my favorite episodes so far have deviated greatly from the story, and I can’t wait for people to see them.”

However, Druckmann didn’t want to spoil much about HBO’s The Last Of Us beyond all that beyond that, but he did say that the iconic Clickers (the zombies from the game) look awesome, so that’s great for fans of the game.

“I just saw the first prosthetic test for the Clicker and it’s awesome. It’s so rad to see this thing come to physical life.”

The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal will play the role of Joel Miller, while Game Of Thrones alum Bella Ramsey will be portraying Ellie. No release date or window has been announced as of yet.

The Last Of Us Part 2 is out now for the PS4. In the meantime, check out my full spoiler-free review of the game here, or head on over here for a guide and tips for the game. If you’ve already played the game, then I suggest checking out my 4000-word spoilerific article on why the hate for the game isn’t justified.