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[kyliethicc]

Long, good read. Lot of interesting quotes in this one.

On the TLOU movie that never got made:

Druckmann respected Sam Raimi, who had been hired to direct “The Last of Us,” but he mistrusted the executives involved, who constantly asked for things to be bigger and “sexier.” His aesthetic touchstone was “No Country for Old Men”; they wanted “World War Z.” He also began to fear that fifteen hours of gameplay couldn’t be condensed into a two-hour feature.

Druckmann & Maizin on other game adaptations:
Assassin's Creed

When Druckmann expressed confidence that the show “will be the best, most authentic game adaptation,” Mazin said, “That’s not the highest bar in the world.” He went on, “I cheated—I just took the one with the best story. Like, I love Assassin’s Creed. But when they announced that they were gonna make it as a movie I was, like, I don’t know how! Because the joy of it is the gameplay. The story is impenetrable.” ... Mazin added, “I still am struggling to understand how Abstergo and the Animus and the Isu—I mean, the Isu alone . . .”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about, and I’ve played so many Assassin’s Creed games,” Druckmann said.

Doom

[Druckmann], too, was conscious of the genre’s abysmal track record; so far, he said, only “kids’ movies,” such as the 2019 film “Detective Pikachu,” had actually worked. Later, he ventured his own theory about failed adaptations: “The other thing that people get wrong is that they think people want to see the gameplay onscreen.” Countless films have fallen into the trap; the most notorious is “Doom,” a 2005 treatment of the pioneering first-person shooter.

Mazin noted, “Doom is also a perfect example of something that you don’t actually need to adapt. There’s nothing there that you can’t generate on your own—”

“Other than the name Doom, and marketing,” Druckmann cut in.

“That’s the thing,” Mazin said. “If what the property is giving you is a name and a built-in thing, you’re basically setting yourself up for disaster, because the fans will be, like, ‘Where’s my fucking thing?’ and everybody else will be, like, ‘What’s Doom?’ And then you’re in trouble.”

Other games, like Tomb Raider & Skyrim

“One of the major contributors to the curse is the fact that a lot of video games are already derivative of movies,” [Maizin] told me. Halo borrowed from “Aliens”; Tomb Raider is a gender-flipped “Indiana Jones.” Returning to the medium where such story formulas had originated was like running text through Google Translate and back: each iteration came out more garbled than the last. Conversely, there were experiences that couldn’t be reproduced outside of games. The chief delight of open-world titles, Mazin told me, was the opportunity to craft a story of one’s own—or to forgo narrative entirely. “I love the ability to wander, to do nothing, in Skyrim,” he said, of an Elder Scrolls game. “That is not translatable!” By contrast, “The Last of Us was always a story where the story comes first.”

On why TLOU didn't have multiple endings:

Some featured branching narratives, enabling gamers’ actions to influence the plot. But endless possibilities came at a cost: they turned protagonists into mere ciphers. The creator of BioShock, another story-rich game from that era, later said that he’d been pushed by higher-ups to replace the troubling, ambiguous finale he’d devised with a stark moral fork in the road; the player’s choices would yield one of two endings, one “good” and one “bad.” Druckmann was urged to do the same and refused. There were decisions he knew Joel—a man capable of both tenderness and terrible violence—would never make.

Druckmann & Maizin on TLOU adaptation:

Druckmann politely called the [Uncharted] movie “fun”—but when the rights were being negotiated for “The Last of Us” he went so far as to make sure that certain plot points were included in the deal. “I helped create Uncharted, but it didn’t come from me the way that The Last of Us did,” he said. “If a bad version of The Last of Us comes out, it will crush me.”

Mazin told Druckmann that the Joel of the series needed to be less resilient. “We had a conversation about the toll Joel’s life would have had on him physically,” Druckmann recalled. “So, he’s hard of hearing on one side because of a gunshot. His knees hurt every time he stands up.” Mazin, who is fifty-one, said, “I guess there’s a tone where Tom Cruise can do anything. But I like my middle-aged people middle-aged.”

Mazin nodded and said, “Joel’s skill with evading bullets is the least important thing. Which, by the way, is where video-game adaptations have gone wrong so many times—they try to replicate the action. It’s just the wrong medium. That’s that. This is this.”

[Druckmann] told me, “Sometimes you have to hand your kid over to someone else and say, ‘I trust you to take care of my kid, because I gotta tend to this other thing. Please don’t fuck it up.’ ”

I could go on, as I said its a long piece and a lot in there.

Last thing I'll point out is they mention the show has a larger budget than season 5 of Game of Thrones.

HBO gave the series a budget exceeding that of each of the first five seasons of “Game of Thrones.”

Can a Video Game Be Prestige TV?

For decades, games’ stories have been lost in translation. With “The Last of Us,” Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin are charting a different path.

www.newyorker.com

 

[Drell]

It may not be a movie but Castlevania has already done it.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Arcane won several emmy.

 

[KXVXII9X]

It was already beaten by Arcane and Castlevania.

 

[Spukc]

golden eye was a pretty good movie imo

 

[Bloobs]

They already fucked up

 

[Aranea]

Mortal Kombat first movie was a really good adaptation in my opinion. Well see how The Last of Us performs.

 

[amigastar]

It may not be a movie but Castlevania has already done it.

So the Castlevania anime is good you say? It's on Netflix, right? Might check it out if it's good.

 

[NeonGhost]

They already fucked up

I think they already fucked up by the casting of Pedo lover pascal

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

They already fucked up

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I think they already fucked up by the casting of Pedo lover pascal

Does he likes Farts?

 

[Drizzlehell]

I always believed that video game-to-movie adaptations didn't work in the past because people who got involved in producing them didn't give a shit about the source material or the studio execs didn't understand them either and kept meddling with the production, and as a result, they were just straight up bad movies. It had the least to do with whether they were faithful to the games or not.

And that logic is even supported by the fact that arguably the most passable video game adaptation (other than Sonic) - Silent Hill - wasn't a complete bowl of shite only because the director genuinely cared and understood the games, and he has some talent to boot.

 

[EruditeHobo]

Obviously TLOU on HBO will be good. It's plain to see at this point... only thing left to do is watch it. The haters will whine, of course, but that would happen no matter what they actually released. See the guy posting pictures of casting because Ellie isn't pretty enough or whatever. Comically dumb take.

As far as the talking point that there is some curse about video game adaptations... this has been basically broken many times in multiple different decades. Mortal Kombat, Silent Hill, Sonic, these are all perfectly acceptable adaptations of their respective source material and each have their own positive qualities which make them "good".

New Mario movie doesn't look too bad either.

 

[midnightAI]

They already fucked up

I dunno, I'd say live action over CGI anytime

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Druckmann respected Sam Raimi, who had been hired to direct “The Last of Us,” but he mistrusted the executives involved, who constantly asked for things to be bigger and “sexier.” His aesthetic touchstone was “No Country for Old Men”; they wanted “World War Z.” He also began to fear that fifteen hours of gameplay couldn’t be condensed into a two-hour feature.

It was paiful to even read this. Thank god they didn’t go through with this lmao.

 

[Halo is Back]

Arcane was phenomenal.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Like others have said. Arcane is effing incredible. If its close to that I'm happy.

 

[Kataploom]

Again mainstream media putting some Sony game as "the first of something", as when they put Ellie as "the first empowered woman in games" lol.

That "curse" was already broken by Sonic movies in the west, but even before we had Street Fighter anime back in the nineties, Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken, Tales of Symphinia ovas, etc. and have had some good games based animes since forever.

Edit: Just this year we had Edgerunner and that's just the tip

 

[Gobjuduck]

Last of Us’ story really isn’t that fantastic, the story will make a decent show though. The first 15 minutes will be the hook, just like the game.

The girl they cast is homely. Fans like Ellie because she’s cute, so the show won’t have that effect.

 

[Banjo64]

Sonic was fantastic and Battle Royale told the story of Fortnite in a brilliant fashion.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Gylenhall Prince of Persia was great. Fuck the haters!

 

[realcool]

Tomb Raider did well, no?

 

[remember_spinal]

Obviously TLOU on HBO will be good. It's plain to see at this point... only thing left to do is watch it. The haters will whine, of course, but that would happen no matter what they actually released. See the guy posting pictures of casting because Ellie isn't pretty enough or whatever. Comically dumb take.

As far as the talking point that there is some curse about video game adaptations... this has been basically broken many times in multiple different decades. Mortal Kombat, Silent Hill, Sonic, these are all perfectly acceptable adaptations of their respective source material and each have their own positive qualities which make them "good".

New Mario movie doesn't look too bad either.

It’s turning into borderline pedophillia the way they are harping on about it

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Most video game tv shows and movies are junk. Out of all of them, how many good good reviews? Not too many. Uwe Boll on his own has killed probably 5-6 video game movies alone.

It'll always be a tough hill to climb because the director always has to make the media kind of cheesy like the game. As for TLOU, it's not the type of franchise that has cheesy video game content that can make people cringe like Van Damme and gang doing Street Fighter. So making a gritty tv show on HBO seems like a good match to make something good.

 

[Tiamat2san]

Fingers crossed, it will be good!

 

[amigastar]

Tomb Raider did well, no?

At the Box Office? Probably Yes, appareantly 274,7 Millionen USD.
But artistically? Meh.

 

[Guilty_AI]

no

 

[3liteDragon]

I get Arcane takes characters from LoL but it isn’t really a true game adaption since the story’s original & has nothing to do with the games. Can that still be considered a game adaptation?

 

[Fbh]

More like "Might be the first live action adaptation that achieves critical praise".

Because on the animation front there have been some solid recent entries like Cyberpunk, Arcane and Castlevania
And on the live action front stuff like Sonic has been quite the commercial success. It's not going to win any awards, but it's fucking Sonic so it's not aiming for that anyway.

I get Arcane takes characters from LoL but it isn’t really a true game adaption since the story’s original & has nothing to do with the games. Can that still be considered a game adaptation?

It's not a direct adaptation since it's a PVP multiplayer only game.
But as far as I know it's all based on the lore and backstories of the game

 

[kyliethicc]

I get Arcane takes characters from LoL but it isn’t really a true game adaption since the story’s original & has nothing to do with the games. Can that still be considered a game adaptation?

not really since its an original story

 

[brian0057]

Arcane, Cyberpunk, Sonic, and Castlevania exist.
But what else can you expect from the same rags that gave us pablum like "the Citizen Kane of gaming".
God, I hate game journos so much.

 

[FunkMiller]

I think the biggest issue the show might have is that it’s yet another super bleak, dystopian, post apocalyptic zombie show. Nine years ago that was still relatively fresh. These days, not so much.

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

I personally don't like the cast, but I'll watch it anyway.

 

[kyliethicc]

Arcane, Cyberpunk, Sonic, and Castlevania exist.
But what else can you expect from the same rags that gave us pablum like "the Citizen Kane of gaming".
God, I hate game journos so much.

Didn't Cyberpunk Edgerunners did that?

The Tomb Raider movies (the ones with Angelina Jolie, obviously), Sonic animations and now movie, Arcane, Castlevania animation, etc. all broke that curse already.

Arcane - original story, just using an IP
Edgrunners - original story, just using an IP, anime
Sonic - kids movie
Castlevania - cartoon

Its not saying everything game related is trash. Its pointing out that, so far, the type of adaptation TLOU is aiming for (live action, adult audience) has not produced great results. Its a different challenge than just writing an original story in a licensed IP world. And the bar for storytelling in cartoons and kids movies is much lower.

 

[Drell]

So the Castlevania anime is good you say? It's on Netflix, right? Might check it out if it's good.

Haven't watched the whole thing but the "CV3" arc was pretty good.

 

[OuterLimits]

Look, I know some will disagree, but I think the Silent Hill movie years ago was pretty damn good.

 

[Bartski]

On the TLOU movie that never got made:

Comic-Con: Sam Raimi Talks The Last Of Us Movie

Sam Raimi showed up at Comic-Con today to talk about his forthcoming...

www.empireonline.com

Joel, a grizzled older man who’s recovering from a major loss after the world is devastated by a deadly outbreak, is still wrapped in a shroud of speculation, but Raimi and Druckmann said that they had held early talks about the role of Ellie, the young girl with whom Joel bonds. “We met with someone the other day. Nothing’s been signed,” said Druckmann. “We had a meeting with Maisie Williams.”

 

[Sub_Level]

This was loooong but I agree it was a good read. Sounds like it will be something special.

Also Mortal Kombat 1995 is a genuinely well done action-adventure romp. It could have been the start of a badass trilogy if they adapted the second game for the sequel instead of rushing to do a shitty incoherent version of MK3.

 

[Puscifer]

They already fucked up

Girl on the left looks like her face grew inside of a glass milk jug.

 

[Games of Today]

They already fucked up

That's not even that bad when you realize they turned Sara black for... what reason?

 

[Danjin44]

Didn't Cyberpunk Edgerunners did that?

 

[Belthazar]

The Tomb Raider movies (the ones with Angelina Jolie, obviously), Sonic animations and now movie, Arcane, Castlevania animation, etc. all broke that curse already.

 

[lachesis]

It's kinda hard to re-tell a story that's already told in fresh perspective in any kind of genre.
Sometimes it's fresh re-takes gather criticism, and sometimes it's faithful retelling gather criticism.
And there are, of course many exceptions in novels or visual comics or whatnot... but the challenge itself isn't limited to games - and it's very difficult to find that right balance, I guess.

 

[Danjin44]

Arcane - original story, just using an IP
Edgrunners - original story, just using an IP, anime
Sonic - kids movie
Castlevania - cartoon

If its animated you dont considered it proper adaptation?

I guess with that logic this is not proper adaptation because it animated?

 

[Gone]

Sonic was good.

Prince of Persia was good.

Castlevania is amazing.

Arcane is a masterpiece.

 

[april6e]

Why is everyone mentioning animated stuff? We are very clearly talking about live adaptations like movies or tv shows. There has never been a good show/movie with live actors based on a video game in the history of media.

 

[Badlucktroll]

The Silent Hill movie was good, and i also think Return To Silent Hill will be as well

 

[Doom85]

Tales of Symphinia ovas

Were those a good adaptation? I’ve been meaning to pick up the Blu-Ray of the OVAs purely to see the Symphonia gang fully animated would be cool, but I figured it would be an iffy adaptation since 8 episodes isn‘t really enough time to adapt any Tales game.

Abyss had a full 26 episodes which seemed better suited to fully adapt the game. Zesteria too, which while I found the game just somewhat good, I am interested in hearing the anime rewrites the story to give Alisha a larger role which would be great as she was one of the few characters I gave a shit about. Yeah, just ditching her when her arc was getting good and then replacing her with boring as hell Rose was a significant L for me in the game.

Look, I know some will disagree, but I think the Silent Hill movie years ago was pretty damn good.

The 2006 movie? Agreed. The sequel Revelations is my personal most hated film ever though. Fuck that film for butchering Silent Hill 3 that much. The first movie changed things but I was fine with it (for the most part, seeing a ton of cult members at once and the climax of butchering them all didn’t feel SH to me).

 

[ManaByte]

Uh, what?

 

[kyliethicc]

If its animated you dont considered it proper adaptation?

I guess with that logic this is not proper adaptation because it animated?

peoples expectations for and judgements of cartoons is lower yes

nobody said its not a proper adaptation. just a different kind