HBO to make TV series based on apocalyptic video game The Last of Us

HBO is working on a television adaptation of the bestselling video game The Last of Us. It will be written by Craig Mazin, the creator of highly acclaimed TV series Chernobyl, together with Neil Druckmann, the creative director on the game and its forthcoming sequel, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The series is set to follow the events of the original game, which takes place in a United States devastated by a deadly parasitic fungus that transforms infected victims into monsters. The action follows grizzled survivor Joel, who is hired to transport seemingly immune teenage girl Ellie out of a quarantine zone and across the country to a lab where a cure can be developed. Praised for its bleak, violent narrative, the game was a major hit on PlayStation, with a sequel due in May.