Award Winning Writer-Director Neil Druckmann And Craig Mazin got included in deadline FYC House event to discuss them on Friday HBO record breaking drama last of us,
Based on the video game series co-created by Druckmann, the TV series takes place two decades after modern civilization is exposed to a deadly mutating fungus. The story follows a hardened survivor named Joel (Pedro Pascal), who is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone in hopes of uncovering a mystery – and Potential cure for humanity – his immunity behind.
Since the show’s January debut, last of us has continued to set records for both HBO and hbo max, For the first four weeks, its viewership grew steadily after its premiere episode alone gathered 4.7 million viewers for the first time, making it the largest number since its same-day debut. house of the dragon,
In gathering a staggering 8.2 million viewers in a single day for the season finale, last of us He also holds the current title of getting the highest number of viewers in a single day. (Not to mention, it became the most watched show in history on HBO.) Maximum in both Latin America and Europe.)
On the red carpet, Druckmann reflected on the outcome of the first season’s successful run. “My life has gone crazy. I don’t know how I ended up here,” he said. “This [concept] What started as a small student project, turned into a video game, and now has this incredible TV show. I am incredibly grateful to have been a part of this journey.
With the upcoming and highly anticipated season two in mind, Druckmann explained the pressures of exceeding fan expectations and trying not to mentally strain himself too much during the current production.
He said, “There was a lot of self-pressure because last of us means a lot to me, and the rest of the developers at Naughty Dog who made the game and want to make sure we get [the show] Well, and I think we did,” he said. “We loved what we made. We are very proud of this. Fans have responded very positively to it. So, for us now, it’s important to reiterate the process of how Craig and I work, and how we’re going to put the show together. There are some learnings and things that I think we can make it even better in season two, but the pressure is usually more imposed from the outside, so I want to make sure that’s something that, again, we That game is proud and does justice to the game that came before it.”
Mazin opened up about the duo’s approach for season two, claiming that while the pair may stray a bit more from the original source material, their overall method would remain the same.
“From a process perspective, Neil and I largely agree that we’re not changing much,” he said. “I mean, our process worked. We worked great together. We adapted where we wanted to adapt, how we wanted to adapt. We stayed close to the material. Sometimes we veered away from the material. but that process worked great. So, we’re not changing that process at all. We’re going [continue to] Push yourself all the way.
The showrunner also emphasized the grueling physicality the process expected from its series lead and other recurring actors. “It’s our actors who have to push themselves even more. As they age, as time goes on, what does that mean for them physically in their bodies?” he said. “And how do they Let’s go, and how do they fight? And what happens as the world becomes more and more physical and dangerous?”
Still, under the pressure of trying to produce another harrowing season of television, Mazin noted that the team was committed to pushing the boundaries. “We’re definitely going to step up the technology that we use. We learned a lot, especially with regards to infecteds and how to better render scenes with them. So, we just raise the bar.” Keep rolling up and up and up. It’s like our call to arms.