THE LAST OF US ON THE COVER.
SPREAD THE NEWS HBO’s latest big-ticket Sunday night series depicts a fungal zombie apocalypse
THE LAST OF US Game changer ADAPTATIONS FINALLY CRACKED? M aking a video game adaptation for the big or small screen is always a risk, as many producers can attest. Even a heavyweight cast including when it debuted on Sunday 15 January. HBO’s adaptation of the hit Playstation game drew the channel’s second-biggest debut of the last 13 years – 4.7 million US viewers across the linear HBO channel and streamer HBO Max – behind only House of the Dragon . The drama, starring Pedro Pascal
the late Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper couldn’t save Super Mario Bros (1993) from being slated by critics and audiences alike. A similar fate awaited Mortal Kombat: Conquest when the fighting game franchise became a series. More recent examples of, shall we say, disappointing efforts include the science-fiction thriller Assassin’s Creed and Netflix’s Resident Evil . Although Sonic the Hedgehog went some way to reclaiming respectability for the video game adaptation, the eagerly awaited The Last of Us took things to a new level
and Bella Ramsey and set in a zombie- ravaged US, was adapted by the game’s creator Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl writer Craig Mazin. It’s been described in some quarters as ‘the best video game adaptation ever’, with five-star reviews aplenty. Sky Atlantic and Now are airing the series in the UK
07. FEBRUARY 2023
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