Latest news with #HalleyGross
Geek Culture
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Culture
'The Last Of Us' Co-Creator Neil Druckmann Exits HBO Series, Leaving Craig Mazin As Sole Showrunner
Neil Druckmann, co-showrunner of the hit HBO series The Last of Us , has announced that he will be stepping away from the show ahead of its third season. Craig Mazin, who had served alongside Druckmann for the first two seasons, will now be the only showrunner moving forward. Photo credit: Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images Having co-created The Last of Us video game series, developed by the PlayStation video game studio Naughty Dog, Druckmann went on to co-create the HBO series with Mazin. Season 1 of The Last of Us launched in 2023 to great fanfare and success, while Season 2 dropped earlier this year. A third season was greenlit in April by HBO. Although he will remain as executive producer on the series, in a statement posted on Naughty Dog's official Instagram account, Druckmann disclosed that he would no longer be writing and directing the show moving forward. Druckmann cited a need to continue his responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative of Naughty Dog, as well as renewing his focus on their next project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet . Meanwhile, Halley Gross, co-writer of 2020's The Last of Us Part II and writer and executive producer on Season 2 of the HBO series, has also announced that she would no longer be working on the show. She explained that her departure was 'to make space' for her upcoming future projects, but thanked Druckmann and Mazin for a wonderful time working on the show. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey ( The Last of Us ) With Druckmann and Gross both exiting the show, Mazin looks poised to be the last of the showrunners. However, what this means for the show moving forward is still up in the air. Season 2 departed from the games and adapted them more loosely, a move that was largely attributed to Mazin. While the larger fanbase criticised the lack of fidelity to the source material, some sources have also praised Mazin's move to explore tangential storylines and are looking forward to what his sole run will mean for the series ahead of Season 3. As Pedro Pascal's Joel Miller famously says in Season 1, 'You have no idea what loss is.' With no news yet on what Mazin plans for Season 3, fans will have to wait and see what the fresh loss of Druckmann means for the series, which ends after four seasons. (header image credit: FilmMagic for Getty Images) Conversation with Ting Wei is like chatting with a weird AI bot programmed only with One Piece lore and theories, sitcom quotes and other miscellaneous pop culture references. When he's not sleeping, he's highly likely reading manga. In fact, the only thing he reads more than manga is the Bible, and it's honestly pretty close. HBO Naughty Dog neil druckmann pedro pascal The Last of Us
Geek Tyrant
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Neil Druckmann Exits THE LAST OF US HBO Series Ahead of Season 3 To Focus on a New Video Game — GeekTyrant
Well, this one's going to sting for fans of The Last of Us . Neil Druckmann, the creative force behind the video game franchise and co-creator of its hit HBO adaptation, has announced that he's stepping away from the series just as it gears up for Season 3. 'I've made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO,' Druckmann shared in a statement posted to Naughty Dog's official Instagram. 'With work completed on season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative.' Druckmann added, 'Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It's been an honor to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce, direct and write on the last two seasons. 'I'm deeply thankful for the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting The Last of Us Part I and the continued adaptation of The Last of Us Part II.' Halley Gross, who co-wrote The Last of Us Part II and served as executive producer and writer on the show, is also leaving. 'With great care and consideration, I've decided to take a step back from my day-to-day work on HBO's The Last of Us to make space for what comes next,' Gross said on Instagram. 'I'm so appreciative of how special this experience has been. Working alongside Neil, Craig, HBO, and this remarkable cast and crew has been life changing. The stories we told – about love, loss, and what it means to be human in a terrifying world – are exactly why I love this franchise. 'I have some truly rad projects ahead that I can't wait to share, but for now, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who brought Ellie and Joel's world to life with such care.' Druckmann and Gross's exits mark a major shift behind the scenes, especially with the third season just announced back in April. While both will still carry executive producer credits, the day-to-day creative reins now fall more fully to co-creator Craig Mazin. 'It's been a creative dream to work with Neil and bring an adaptation of his brilliant work to life on HBO,' Mazin said. 'I couldn't have asked for a more generous creative partner. 'As a true fan of Naughty Dog and Neil's work in video games, I'm beyond excited to play his next game. While he focuses on that, I'll continue to work with our brilliant cast and crew to deliver the show our audience has come to expect. 'We are so grateful to Neil and Halley Gross for entrusting the incredible story of The Last of Us Part II to us, and we're just as grateful to the millions of people around the world who tune in.' Season 1 of The Last of Us became one of HBO's most acclaimed and most-watched dramas, earning 24 Primetime Emmy nominations. Season 2 premiered earlier this year, expanding on the emotional devastation of the games and setting up even bigger stakes for what's to come. As for Druckmann's next move, his mysterious new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet was revealed late last year, with You and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina star Tati Gabrielle set to lead. Music will come from Oscar-winning duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. No release date has been announced yet. Well, hopefully the show will continue to be good as it continues without Druckman or Gross!
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The Last of Us' Writers Share the Video Game Adaptations Hollywood Should Tackle Next
'The Last of Us' Season 2 is coming to a close, but with HBO's mushroom apocalypse officially greenlit for more episodes beyond the source material, Hollywood's video game renaissance is just getting started. 'A Minecraft Movie' went around the sun making money at the box office this spring. Even met with middling-to-bad reviews, 'Until Dawn' more than got its budget back. 'I think you're seeing a lot of mining right now of the most popular games,' said Neil Druckmann to IndieWire. Head of the video game studio Naughty Dog, where he co-wrote the record-breaking 'The Last of Us Part II' with Halley Gross, the writers named their own game, 'Fallout,' 'Halo,' and 'Twisted Metal' as major properties that were obvious to adapt. More from IndieWire Anime Has Never Been Nominated at the Primetime Emmys - Can 'Solo Leveling' Change That? 'Mountainhead' Review: Jesse Armstrong Assembles a New Group of Unserious Billionaires Without the Charm of the Roys 'But there's a lot of niche, smaller games that are really beautiful,' said Druckmann, who is also executive producer and co-creator with Craig Mazin on 'The Last of Us' TV show. A former 'Westworld' creative, Gross wrote several episodes with the showrunner and Druckmann. 'Games do a beautiful job of immersing you in different worlds,' Gross told IndieWire. 'There are distinctions between mediums, between games, between film, between TV, but at the end of the day, it's about experiencing something outside of yourself and broadening your horizons.' Emphasizing the importance of indie games to an indie film site, Druckmann and Gross offered several game adaptations they want to see translated for the big screen or TV. 'There's this game called 'Inside' that is one of the best told stories I've experienced in any medium,' he said. 'Likewise, there's this game called 'Ico' and 'Shadow of the Colussus' and 'The Last Guardian.' This is this trilogy of games by this genius of a director, Fumito Ueda. And I would love to see those find a broader audience if for no other reason than that people will talk about them, and they'll go back and play those games because I think they're brilliant.' Druckmann also mentioned a card game. 'Oh, my God, he loves 'Balatro,'' Gross laughed. 'Hopefully, our show makes people go, 'Hey, wait, what games can be like that? Now, I'm intrigued, and now maybe I'm playing something new. Maybe I'm trying 'Ghost of Tsushima' or 'God of War.' It's really exciting to bring these two things together.' She continued, 'We're in this really interesting renaissance of game adaptations, and our hope is that 'The Last of Us' is this bridge.' Sales for both games went up significantly after the show. Looking ahead, 'Five Nights at Freddy's' and 'Mortal Kombat' will return later this year, with sequels set for the fall. Further down the line, we'll get more major adaptations — think 'The Sims' and 'Assassin's Creed,' but also more from 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie,' 'Angry Birds,' and 'Sonic the Hedgehog.' Asked about one of Naughty Dog's most famous kid-friendly racing title, a major favorite of non-Nintendo families in '90s, Druckmann had bad news about the movie future of 'Crash Bandicoot.' 'Here's where I'll break your heart, because 'Crash Bandicoot' is not owned by us,' Druckmann said. ''Crash Bandicoot' is owned by Microsoft. So while Naughty Dog created 'Crash Bandicoot,' they never owned it. So I will direct your question to Phil Spencer, head of Xbox. Ask him to make a 'Crash Bandicoot' film. Look, I'll sign that petition. I'm in full support.' 'The Last of Us' Season 2 airs new episodes on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and Max. Best of IndieWire Nightmare Film Shoots: The 38 Most Grueling Films Ever Made, from 'Deliverance' to 'The Wages of Fear' Quentin Tarantino's Favorite Movies: 65 Films the Director Wants You to See The 19 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in May, from 'Fair Play' to 'Emily the Criminal'
Geek Feed
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Feed
Ellie Almost had a Step-Mom in The Last of Us Part II
The latest episode of The Last of Us had Joel taking out the character of Eugene (Joe Pantoliano), and while it has been teased that his death was a major story moment, it was originally conceived as a scene from the game which would have something to do with a character that would have been Ellie's 'Step-Mom'. In a recent talk with Collider, series writer Halley Gross reveals that she and Neil Druckmann had originally conceived the character of Esther for Part II , who would have been Joel's girlfriend in Jackson. Gross describes the scene: '… that sequence where Joel and Ellie happen upon somebody who they love, who's already been infected, was a really old idea that we had for the second game. Instead of Eugene, Joel had a girlfriend, and her name was Esther . They were arriving at an electric dam because things weren't working, and they found everybody dead but Esther. She was reconciling with the fact that this was it. She was bitten, and she was facing down her own death, and Joel sat with her while she reconciled with that, knowing that she couldn't come back in.' The scene was supposed to drive home the point of Ellie feeling guilty about being immune and how Joel would still have Esther if there was some kind of cure, but they ultimately decided to scrap the concept and bring it back for their new treatment for Eugene. If anything, the series did make a lot of relevant story changes. Besides pushing the reveal of Joel and Ellie's final talk forward in the story, they also included Joel's confession about what really happened at Salt Lake. If anything, I am curious about how they're going to treat the story moving forward since there is still the question of Abby and how the game treats her, but hopefully everyone will be onboard by the time Season 3 rolls in. Catch the finale of The Last of Us Season 2 when it premieres on HBO Max on Sunday.
