“The Last of Us” creator Neil Druckmann announced on Wednesday that he was leaving his creative role as showrunner for the popular HBO series ahead of season 3…
Neil Druckmann — the creator behind “The Last of Us” video game and the co-showrunner to the ultra popular HBO series — is leaving the show before production on season 3 begins.
He made the shocking announcement on Instagram while revealing plans to get back to his roots with a new game being developed at his company Naughty Dog and leaving “The Last of Us” series in the hands of co-creator Craig Mazin.
“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in ‘The Last of Us’ on HBO,” Druckmann said on Instagram “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.”
The stunning announcement comes after “The Last of Us” season 2 failed to receive the same level of critical and commercial acclaim as the first season of the show. While still considered a mostly faithful adaptation to the original games, a lot of fans complained about the various changes incorporated not to mention some of the actors cast in the roles for the TV show version of the story.
There’s also plans for a surprising creative shift in “The Last of Us” season 3 with Kaitlyn Dever’s character Abby taking center stage with the show expected to follow her journey presumably before season 4 would eventually wrap up the show. That said, Mazin and Druckmann didn’t state if there were plans for only four seasons of “The Last of Us,” although they’ve hinted at that in the past.
While Druckmann is leaving the show, Mazin is still on board after he led the charge to adapt “The Last of Us” video games into the TV series after he received critical acclaim for his work on the HBO series “Chernobyl.”
“It’s been a creative dream to work with Neil and bring an adaptation of his brilliant work to life on HBO,” Mazin said in a statement. “I couldn’t have asked for a more generous creative partner. As a true fan of Naughty Dog and Neil’s work in video games, I’m beyond excited to play his next game. While he focuses on that, I’ll continue to work with our brilliant cast and crew to deliver the show our audience has come to expect.
“We are so grateful to Neil and Halley Gross for entrusting the incredible story of The Last of Us Part II to us, and we’re just as grateful to the millions of people around the world who tune in.”
Halley Gross, who co-wrote “The Last of Us Part II” with Druckmann for the video game also announced that she was leaving the series as well.
“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,” Gross said on Instagram. “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.”
It’s unclear if there were any creative differences or behind the scenes issues that led to the split but “The Last of Us” has obviously already been renewed for season 3 so the show goes on without the original creators behind the video game.
