HBO's "The Last of Us" and The Curse of Video Game Adaptations
On the Media
WNYC Studios
4.6 • 8.7K Ratings
🗓️ 11 January 2023
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week HBO is set to release its latest show, The Last Of Us, about two strangers, who end up on a perilous journey together through a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic America. The show, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, is based on a hit video game series of the same name. It should be an easy hit for the network.
Yet, the show's creators have had to contend with what's known as the “video game curse.” Dating back to the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, adaptations of video games into film and television have left us with a long list of critical failures. From 2022's Uncharted, to the 2021 Mortal Kombat, and the 2016 Assassin’s Creed movie, which earned a whopping 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. This week, OTM Correspondent Micah Loewinger speaks with New Yorker writer and editor, Alex Barasch, about his latest piece ‘Can a Video Game Be Prestige TV?,’ if HBO's latest venture could finally break the infamous curse, and why studios continue to make productions based on video games.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to The On The Media Podcast, Extra. |
| 0:02.4 | I'm Michael Lonescher. |
| 0:04.2 | This week, we're looking at a forthcoming HBO show |
| 0:07.0 | called The Last of Us. |
| 0:08.7 | It's about two strangers who end up |
| 0:11.1 | on a perilous journey together |
| 0:13.0 | as they navigate a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic America. |
| 0:18.1 | If you don't think it's hope for the world, |
| 0:21.7 | where are they going on? |
| 0:23.4 | Keep going for family. |
| 0:27.2 | I'm not family. |
| 0:28.3 | No. |
| 0:30.0 | Your car go. |
| 0:32.1 | The show starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey |
| 0:35.2 | is based on a hit video game of the same name. |
| 0:38.6 | Combine that with the big appetite for Doomsday Storylines, |
| 0:42.0 | and you'd think this would be a safe bet for HBO. |
| 0:45.1 | And yet, early reviews of The Last of Us |
| 0:47.7 | have elicited a bit of surprise across the internet. |
| 0:51.0 | Reviews and reactions for this thing are outstanding. |
| 0:54.6 | Critics are calling it the best video game adaptation |
| 0:57.5 | ever made, not that that's saying that much. |
... |
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