The Last of Us showrunners reveal the original opening was “a little boring to watch” and how they fixed it.
HBO
The Last of Us, the highly anticipated HBO series, has finally premiered to widespread acclaim. Both critics and audiences have been praising the show for its intense and gripping storytelling, as well as its stunning visual effects. The series wasted no time in immersing viewers in its post-apocalyptic world, where a fungal infection threatens to wipe out humanity. The series opens with a powerful and thought-provoking scene, where Dr. Neuman, played by John Hannah, explains the potential threat of fungi should the planetary temperature rise significantly.
However, the opening sequence of the show almost took a different form. In the premiere episode of HBO’s The Last of Us podcast, the show’s creator Craig Mazin revealed that the initial idea for the opening was to show a clip of a cordyceps infecting a group of ants, similar to what Dr. Neuman explains in his warning. However, Mazin and co-showrunner Neil Druckmann ultimately decided against this idea, as they felt “It was a little boring to watch.”
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“I pitched [the cold open] twice,” Craig Mazin said.”The first time I pitched it, [to co-showrunner Neil Druckmann] was like ‘ehh’ – or we can do the video. It’s Planet Earth, you can watch this beautiful demonstration of how cordyceps works (opens in new tab), how it takes over an ant. It tells you everything you need to know. What we decided to do was make our own video like that.” “It was a little boring to watch. It was a little bit like we’re in social studies class,” the writer continued. “I had written this thing early as if I had found a transcript of an old Dick Cavett from 1969. I remember showing it to Neil, and he was like, ‘This is a little weird.'”
However, it wasn’t until only a few weeks before filming wrapped that Mazin and Druckmann finally found an opening that they were both happy with.
“We’re about 3-4 weeks away from wrapping… and I am not thrilled with this opening,” Mazin concluded. “I sent it to Neil again and this time he was like ‘ooh!'”
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The Last of Us Is A Masterful Adaptation of the Beloved Video Game Series
HBO
Adapting a beloved video game series for the small screen can be a tricky task, but The Last of Us seems to have done it flawlessly. Fans of the original game were initially hesitant about the show’s casting, but the across-the-board love for the show has shown that being loyal to the popular franchise can pay off. The Last of Us has taken what is regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time and seemingly turned it into one of the greatest TV series.
While there were around 200 audience reviews posted on Rotten Tomatoes before the actual premiere of the series, the number of reviews has since skyrocketed, with over 1400 reviews posted since the show’s launch. The show’s questionable 86% rating has now been boosted to 96%. This number is all but certain to continue to rise as more reviews come in, and there’s no denying that a TV phenomenon is underway.
Fans of the series can further deepen their engagement with the show by tuning into The Last of Pods podcast, where they can find breakdowns of each episode, interviews with special guests from the show and more. The series airs on HBO and HBO Max at 9 p.m. Eastern every Sunday, with the podcast premiering immediately following each episode.
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