Sam Raimi Explains Why He Can't Get THE LAST OF US Film Adaptation Rolling Forward
Back in 2014, it was officially announced that Sam Raimi would be developing a big-screen adaptation of the hit video game The Last of Us. Game of Thrones star Maise Williams was said to be attached to the project, and it looked like things were falling into place. Then earlier this year, the writer and director of the game, Neil Druckmann, who also wrote the script for the film, offered up some bad news:
"I know I said in an interview a while back we had a table read, got the script to a good place and it kind of entered development hell like these things tend to do. ... There hasn't been any work done on it in over a year and a half."
It doesn't sound like much has changed since then. IGN recently talked to Raimi about the project, and he gave an update explaining how things went down and what his involvement in the project is:
"Well, unfortunately that one -- when we went to Neil with Ghost House Pictures we were hoping to get the rights like we do any project and then we'd take it out and sell it but we'd control the rights. With this one he went to Sony -- who I have a very good relationship with -- but they have their own plans for it and I think Neil's plan for it -- I'm not trying to be political -- Neil's plan for it is not the same as Sony's. And because my company doesn't have the rights, I actually can't help him too much. Even though I'm one of the producers on it the way he set it up, he sold his rights to Sony, Sony hired me as a producer by chance, and I can't get the rights free for him so I'm not in the driver's seat and I can't tell you what Sony and Neil together will decide on. If they do move forward I'd love to help them again."
When pressed further about what his attachment to the project is, Raimi explained that for some reason Sony Pictures doesn't want to move forward with it, and he's not in a position to help push it forward:
"Yes, I'm attached to it. I'm not too sure what that means. Right now it's just sitting there. They don't want to move forward, and it's not my place to say why, and Neil, I think, is in a slight disagreement with them about how things should go so there's a standstill. And I don't have the power to move it."
That sucks. What's the point of being a producer on a film if there's nothing you can do to push it forward and make it happen. Isn't that one of the jobs of a producer? This is a project that Raimi was incredibly excited about doing, and now he's in a position where there's nothing he can really do to push it back into development.
I'm sure it will happen one day, but it doesn't look like it's going to be anytime soon.