It has been confirmed that the actress Merle Dandrigde, the voice behind Marlene in The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II, will be reprising the role of the character in the live action HBO show. Merle joins Pedro Pascal who will be taking on the role of Joel, Bella Ramsey will be Ellie, and Gabriel Luna will be the character Tommy. Kantemir Balagov will be directing The Last of Us’ HBO pilot after Johan Renck pulled out due to not being available.
HBO and Naughty Dog aim to stay true to the original vision. In March, looking to stay as close to the source material as much as possible HBO enlisted Gustavo Santaolalla, the composer of both The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. When the show was commissioned the project heads had the following to say. In a statement Neil Druckmann said:
“From the first time I sat down to talk with Craig I was equally blown away by his approach to narrative and his love and deep understanding of The Last of Us. With Chernobyl, Craig and HBO created a tense, harrowing, emotional masterpiece. I couldn’t think of better partners to bring the story of The Last of Us to life as a television show.”
Craig Mazin also released a statement and said:
Neil Druckmann is without question the finest storyteller working in the video game medium, and The Last of Us is his magnum opus. Getting a chance to adapt this breathtaking work of art has been a dream of mine for years, and I’m so honoured to do it in partnership with Neil.”
Source: Hollywood Reporter
