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The Last of Us Co-Creator Neil Druckmann Exits HBO Show (arstechnica.com) 28

Posted by BeauHD from the last-of-them dept.
Neil Druckmann and Halley Gross, two pivotal creative forces behind HBO's The Last of Us adaptation, have stepped away from the series before work begins on Season 3. Druckmann is focusing on new projects at Naughty Dog, while Gross hinted at other upcoming creative endeavors, leaving showrunner Craig Mazin at the helm. Ars Technica reports: Both were credited as executive producers on the show; Druckmann frequently contributed writing to episodes, as did Gross, and Druckmann also directed. Druckmann and Gross co-wrote the second game, The Last of Us Part 2.

Druckmann said in his announcement post: "I've made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO. With work completed on season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative. Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It's been an honor to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce, direct and write on the last two seasons. I'm deeply thankful for the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting The Last of Us Part I and the continued adaptation of The Last of Us Part II."

And Gross said: "With great care and consideration, I've decided to take a step back from my day-to-day work on HBO's The Last of Us to make space for what comes next. I'm so appreciative of how special this experience has been. Working alongside Neil, Craig, HBO, and this remarkable cast and crew has been life changing. The stories we told -- about love, loss, and what it means to be human in a terrifying world -- are exactly why I love this franchise. I have some truly rad projects ahead that I can't wait to share, but for now, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who brought Ellie and Joel's world to life with such care."
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The Last of Us Co-Creator Neil Druckmann Exits HBO Show More

The Last of Us Co-Creator Neil Druckmann Exits HBO Show

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  • Boring game. Terrible series. How Season 2 ever saw the light of day is ... welll understandable. The species is garbage.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      Boring game. Terrible series. How Season 2 ever saw the light of day is ... welll understandable. The species is garbage.

      This.

      Like so many other game to tv series it started strong but then turned to crap. The first 2-3 eps were good, action combined with story... after the 4th it went downhill (yeah, I get you have a character episode as a filler). Far too much talking and crying. The turning point for me was episode 6 (I think), escaping from Kansas city... He clearly had the infinite ammo cheat on because we never saw him reload that rifle and he never stopped firing long enough either. A bolt action rifle holds what, 5

    • The only way I see reasonably fixing the series is to retcon season 2 with Pascal waking up and realizing it was all a bad, fever dream.

  • I still can't figure out why this run of the mill zombie story was such a critical darling.

    • Re:Why is this popular? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Kokuyo ( 549451 ) on Friday July 04, 2025 @06:46AM (#65496222) Journal

      The chemistry between the protagonists in the first part was really good. The Zombie Apocalypse story was just the filler to tell the story of these two people.

      Druckman did never comprehend that and hence you have the show and the second game.

      Aesthetics has rules that are deeply ingrained into our psyche. It's so extreme, it might be a law of nature. That goes for architecture as much as storytelling. Some things excite us more than others and the formulae are known.One ignores them at one's own peril.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by znrt ( 2424692 )

        The chemistry between the protagonists in the first part was really good.

        indeed. excellent choice of actors, good acting and dialogue. that line: "finish your eggshells" cracked me up.

        the rest is just industry standard, so meh. including the game, vastly overhyped. folks just were raptured by an innocent child protagonist getting killed in the last cutscene of the intro story, which is just a variation of a trope as old as cinema.

    • The first season had really good production values and sets. Particularly the flooded hotel scene and the abandoned mall scene. On top of that Pedro Pascal is a fantastic actor. As others have said it's not even about the zombies so much as the people.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by quall ( 1441799 )

        Maybe they knew that the second season was going to be garbage based on the game reception, and ramped down on funding? Did it cost more to produce season 2?

        Druckmann's reason for leaving feels like an excuse. Half the audience clocked out mid-way into season 2. How many of those will remain for season 3? I don't think "production quality" is to blame even if you think it was poorer.

        It failed for the same reason that people hated the second game. And I think he doesn't want his named tarnished further by th

  • Will there be a post every time an actor or director leaves a studio?

  • Turns out... (Score:3)

    by dnaumov ( 453672 ) on Friday July 04, 2025 @06:26AM (#65496188)

    ... the gamers were right all along and Neil was full of shit.

  • Boggles the mind (Score:4, Insightful)

    by RobinH ( 124750 ) on Friday July 04, 2025 @08:02AM (#65496328) Homepage
    I don't understand how you can make two video games, where the first received critical acclaim, and the sequel was widely panned due to the story, and then when you adapted that into a TV show, you turned the second game into the second season without thinking, "hmm, the fans really hated this story... maybe we should change it?" It's just mindboggling.
    • It only makes sense when you consider that one of the best storywriting talents, Amy Hennig, left the company after the first game. That meant Neil Druckmann was free to turn the sequel of a critically-acclaimed zombie apocalypse game into an interactive episode of Jerry Springer that seemed to have little to do with zombies. I get the impression that story could have been told in any setting, but Neil just had to piggyback off of the success of The Last of Us and shoehorn in identity politics to turn the
    • Less mind boggling when you factor denial and/or hubris.

    • > "hmm, the fans really hated this story... maybe we should change it?" It's just mindboggling.

      You're correct, but so much of hollywood these days is not about the fans; it's some cathartic passion project of the creator. It's not about making money, or creating something an audience will like. If you don't like it, that's YOUR fault, not theirs. See Zegler's post-Snow White rants as another example. It's all about them; you're merely a side effect.

    • I don't know. They probably would have faced about as much push back for changing the plot as they did for keeping it. Sticking with the established storyline makes sense to me, even if it wasn't very good. But I never played the games and only watched the first season.

  • Neil Druckmann is an Israeli–American writer, creative director, designer, and programmer. He is the studio head and head of creative of the video game developer Naughty Dog, and is best known for his work on the game franchises Uncharted and The Last of Us, having co-created the latter as well as its television adaptation.

    It's important to know that he has a full-time job that is a leading role which explains why shifting focus has an impact.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by quall ( 1441799 )

      Ok, but why was he able to stick around for 2 seasons? He is suddenly super busy only after it failed? If Season 2 was a success, do you think he'd still be leaving?

      It seems more like he's leaving because the second season failed. He thought that the second game's story would do better in the live action format with a wider audience, but half the audience still clocked out. How many of those will stay for season 3, and what will the aftermath budget be? More like he's running away since he won't be able to

  • because it would have been cancelled anyways at the end of this season (if yes).

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