The Last of Us HBO series will no longer have the creator of the story, Neil Druckmann, involved in upcoming seasons. The Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay-starring television series has just concluded Season 2, and Druckmann has been attached to the project since the beginning, serving as an executive producer, director, and writer.
"I"ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO," said Druckmann in a social media post today. "With work completed on season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects."
The award-winning HBO series, which is an adaptation of the Sony-published video game series, is currently slated to last at least four seasons, covering the entirety of the two games" storyline.
"Co-creating the show has been a career highlight," Druckmann continued. "It"s been an honor to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce, direct and write on the last two seasons. I"m deeply thankful for the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting The Last of Us Part I and the continued adaptation of The Last of Us Part II."
At the same time, The Last of Us Part II co-writer Halley Gross has revealed that she is also stepping away from the HBO series.
Druckmann will now be focused fully on the next Naughty Dog game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, as the studio head and head of creative. He will be the writer and director behind the major project, which is to be the studio"s brand-new, high-profile IP that is taking a sci-fi route. Announced late last year, Intergalactic will follow a bounty hunter stranded on a mysterious planet and is described as an "emotional, character-driven epic journey."