Sam Raimi Reveals 'The Last of Us' Adaptation Still Trapped in Developmental Hell
The Last of Us, like Uncharted (and both from the same game developer, Naughty Dog) has been in developmental hell for a number of years now. While Uncharted now has a director and a light at the end of the tunnel, The Last of Us is going nowhere anytime soon.
Sam Raimi, attached as a producer on the film, has told IGN that the project has been at a halt due to circumstances outside of his control. Reportedly, it comes down to Naughty Dog's creative director Neil Druckmann not seeing eye-to-eye with the studio.
"Well, unfortunately that one – when we went to Neil with Ghost House Pictures we were hoping to get the rights like we do any project and then we’d take it out and sell it but we’d control the rights. With this one he went to Sony – who I have a very good relationship with – but they have their own plans for it and I think Neil’s plan for it – I’m not trying to be political – Neil’s plan for it is not the same as Sony’s.
"And because my company doesn’t have the rights, I actually can’t help him too much. Even though I’m one of the producers on it the way he set it up, he sold his rights to Sony, Sony hired me as a producer by chance, and I can’t get the rights free for him so I’m not in the driver’s seat and I can’t tell you what Sony and Neil together will decide on. If they do move forward I’d love to help them again."
Raimi continued, saying it's "not his place" to go into detail on what the two parties are butting heads over. The game is lauded as one of the best narrative video games of all time. Personally, and I feel the same way toward Uncharted (particularly in reference to the final game, which came out early this year), I don't see the need for big-screen adaptations of these beautifully told tales.
That being said, we'll be keeping an eye on proceedings, but it looks like The Last of Us is going nowhere anytime soon.
Source: Slashfilm
