During a press event for the upcoming DVD and Blu-ray release of Don't Breathe, producer Sam Raimi was asked for an update on the current status of the big screen adaptation of PlayStation 3 hit The Last of Us. Unfortunately, the project doesn't seem to have got much further than when we last heard, and as a result, it seems to be stuck firmly in development hell (like many other video game adaptations).
Asked why The Last of Us has now stalled, the Spider-Man director offered the following update.
"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."
IGN pressed Raimi for details on whether or not he's still serving as the movie's producer: "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. I don't have the power to move it."
So, like Uncharted was for a number of years, it seems The Last of Us is sadly going nowhere fast. Whether or not that will change remains to be seen, but Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams will soon be too old to take on the role of Ellie as has previously been reported. It seems we'll have to wait and see, but are you still hopeful that we'll see The Last of Us on the big screen at some point?
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