Neil Druckmann, the creator of video game “The Last of Us,” has exited from HBO’s TV adaptation ahead of Season 3.
Druckmann, who was deeply involved in the first two seasons of the drama series working alongside co-creator Craig Mazin, will end his creative involvement in the show’s upcoming third season as he turns his “complete focus” to Naughty Dog, the video game studio behind “The Last of Us,” and its future projects. Executive producer Halley Gross is also exiting.
“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in ‘The Last of Us’ on HBO,” Druckmann said in a Wednesday statement. “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.”
Druckmann added that co-creating “The Last of Us” has been a “career highlight,” as has been working alongside Mazin. During his time on “The Last of Us,” Druckmann wrote and executive produced the show and directed two episodes.
“I’m deeply thankful of the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting ‘The Last of Us’ Part I and their continued adaptation of ‘The Last of Us’ Part II,” Druckmann continued. “I look forward to HBO and PlayStation Productions continuing Ellie and Abby’s story next season.”
In a statement to press, Mazin applauded Druckmann as a “generous creative partner,” and doubled down on his commitment to continue to adapt “The Last of Us” Part II, which has been broken into Seasons 2 and 3 of the HBO series.
“It’s been a creative dream to work with Neil and bring an adaptation of his brilliant work to life on HBO,” Mazin said. “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.”
“The Last of Us” finished airing its second season in late May and scored an early Season 3 renewal in April.
The Ankler first reported the news of Druckmann’s departure.
