Sony Pictures has sparked a flurry of speculation by registering domains for The Last Of Us —specifically TheLastofusMovie.net and TheLasTofus-Movie.com — hinting that a potential feature film could be on the cards. Naughty Dog’s bold, critically-adorned title set a series of records upon release, selling 3.4 million units within the space of three weeks.
Alas, it’s advised to take this news with a grain of salt. Sony could simply be marking its territory by registering the aforementioned domains, which doesn’t necessarily signify that an adaptation is underway. Still, given the innate quality of Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic odyssey, it’s logical that Sony would consider bringing The Last of Us to a screen near you. The in-game narrative echoes themes of darkness and human peril in the vein of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, and the core dynamic of Joel and Ellie has an inherent, film-esque quality to it.
It’s also worth nothing that Resident Evil —Sony’s other lucrative, filmic property— may be drawing to a conclusion in 2014, leaving a notable gap on the studio’s future calendar. Of course, game to film adaptations have a notoriously mediocre track record. Not only that, the performances and cinematography in The Last of Us are of such a high standard, it’s difficult to imagine an adaption emulating the esteemed source material. It would, however, be interesting if a Dawn of the Wolf easter egg cropped up in the eventual end product. One can only hope.
In terms of the game itself, Naughty Dog is poised to roll out downloadable content between December and January. Entitled Left Behind, the adjacent storyline will have you play as Ellie, which will allow you to explore her early relationship with her friend Riley in the early days of the Cordyceps-fuelled apocalypse.
What do you think of Sony’s move? If it were to transition onto the silver screen, would you grant The Last of Us the benefit of the doubt?
