The Last Of Us Movie Is Happening

Let’s face it: the history of movies based on video games is not a proud one. For every Tomb Raider, or even a Resident Evil (hey, it did well enough to become a franchise), it seems there an endless stream of bombs like Super Mario Bros. and Doom. That doesn’t stop Hollywood from trying though, and considering how The Last of Us cleaned up in terms of sales and critical acclaim, it was probably only a matter of time before its journey to the big screen was confirmed (as reported by The Hollywood Reporter).

There are signs for hope. With Neil Druckmann, the creative director of the game, writing and producing, at least we know the movie will stay faithful to its source material. And Sam Raimi’s involvement is also positive, though not everything he touches turns to gold.

Still, there’s a bigger and more obvious question to be asked here: since modern video games are already pretty cinematic, especially something like The Last of Us, is there really a point to turning them into movies? Building a bigger world and filling in the blanks for a game from the 90s is one thing, but today’s best-selling titles usually have all of that done already. That’s a big part of why we gamers like them so much.

Of course, if the movie industry finds any content it thinks will make money, it’s going to take a shot at it. If enough games get made into movies, eventually one of them will be a bona fide blockbuster, the kind of film that rakes in $300 million-plus domestically. The Last of Us probably has as good a chance as any, but it’s fighting an uphill battle against history.

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