There was a great deal of excitement when Maisie Williams revealed at Comic-Con two years ago that she was involved in an adaptation of best-selling horror video game, The Last of Us. Later that year she provided an update and nothing had really moved on it, even with producers Sam Raimi and screenwriter Neil Druckmann enthusiastically shopping it. And now two more years have passed with zero movement and we're learning the reason why, straight from Raimi himself.
Speaking with IGN, Raimi confirms the film is at a total standstill, and the way it sounds there may never be...
"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."
That doesn't sound good, and Raimi puts a pin in the whole thing by adding, "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."
If Raimi can't help then probably nothing will. But you never know. It would be incredibly disappointing if the survival horror game doesn't get some kind of movie because it was designed so cinematically. And Williams is perfect for the role of Ellie, which is why fans have been eager to see this happen.
