The series will not start production until Naughty Dog successfully releases The Last of Us 2

The news that HBO will adapt the PlayStation masterpiece "The Last of Us" into a TV series has aroused great anticipation among many gamers and fans, but Craig Mazin, who is responsible for the script, hopes that everyone can be patient: the adapted series will not start production until Naughty Dog officially completes and releases "The Last of Us 2".

Craig revealed the news on his weekly podcast "Scriptnotes", saying that Naughty Dog's creative director and co-writer Neil Druckmann was unable to break away from development work before the game was released.

"We can't start production right away because their game sequel hasn't finished development yet, but it's not far away. We've been discussing this for a few months and have come up with some small-scale plans. As soon as they finish the sequel game, we will immediately go all in on the TV series production."

Craig also talked about how he was introduced to the idea of ​​collaborating with Elsie Hughes and Neil Dreckmann of Westworld, and he also insisted that The Last of Us should be made into a TV series rather than a movie.

"For a long time before, this project was a movie project. Neil was planning to work with Sony to shoot The Last of Us, but I thought that The Last of Us was not suitable for the form of film. It must be made into a series, and it needs length. This is a story about the development of the relationship between the characters on a long journey, so it must be shot in the form of a TV series. Fortunately, Neil finally agreed with my opinion, and HBO also expressed its willingness."

The Last of Us 2 will be released in late May 2020.