HBO is working on a television adaptation of the bestselling video game The Last of Us.
It will be written by Craig Mazin, the creator of highly acclaimed TV series Chernobyl, together with Neil Druckmann, the creative director on the game and its forthcoming sequel, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The series is set to follow the events of the original game, which takes place in a United States devastated by a deadly parasitic fungus that transforms infected victims into monsters.
The action follows grizzled survivor Joel, who is hired to transport seemingly immune teenage girl Ellie out of a quarantine zone and across the country to a lab where a cure can be developed. Praised for its bleak, violent narrative, the game was a major hit on PlayStation, with a sequel due in May.
The series will be a co-produced by PlayStation Productions, a new division set up by Sony last year to produce films and TV series based on games.
“This is the first of many shows we intend to develop with our friends at PlayStation Productions,” Chris Parnell, co-president of Sony Pictures Television Studios, told the Hollywood Reporter. “The Last of Us is a brilliant achievement in storytelling and character development, and we are lucky to have the opportunity to work with this team to adapt it.”
The announcement follows the success of The Witcher on Netflix. The TV series was based on the novels of the same name, but was highly influenced by the successful video game adaptation.
There is increasing interest in bringing video games to television. Microsoft is working with Showtime on a TV series of Halo, while French games publisher Ubisoft is looking at translating several of its hit franchises, including futuristic cyber-thriller Watch Dogs, to the small screen.
Uncharted, another game from The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog, is being translated into a movie, which is scheduled for release in January.
