In a statement posted to the Naughty Dog Instagram account, Druckmann said, “I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last Of Us on HBO. 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, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative.” He continued, “Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. 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.”
Druckmann’s exit is a surprise, to say the least, as he’s been on a personal journey with The Last Of Us since he conceived of it as a graduate student. More than a decade after the game first hit shelves, he served not only as co-showrunner but directed multiple episodes. His remarks on the upcoming third season (“I was sure that [HBO] wouldn’t let us do this when we started adapting this, but they’ve leaned into what makes, I believe, the story special. And allowed us not only the time but the creative freedom to be able to take these swings, and I think the audience really appreciates that,” he said earlier this month) made it sound like he was going to be involved in the show going forward, but it’s not to be. He will, however, retain his co-creator credit and will remain an executive producer.
The second season of The Last Of Us was controversial, as video game fans grappled with changes made to the source material and fans new to the show grappled with the story’s big twists. Despite Druckmann sounding positive on his relationship with Mazin and HBO throughout the awards season push for the second season, the fact that his The Last Of Us Part II game co-writer Halley Gross is also stepping away from the show as a writer could indicate that the situation between the Naughty Dog and HBO factions has become less than harmonious behind the scenes. “With great care and consideration, I’ve decided to take a step back from my day-to-day work on HBO’s The Last Of Us to make space for what comes next,” Gross said in a statement posted to Instagram. “I’m so appreciative of how special this experience has been. Working alongside Neil, Craig, HBO, and this remarkable cast and crew has been life changing. The stories we told—about love, loss, and what it means to be human in a terrifying world—are exactly why I love this franchise. I have some truly rad projects ahead that I can’t wait to share, but for now, I want to express my gratitude to everyone who brought Ellie and Joel’s world to life with such care.”
“It’s been a creative dream to work with Neil and bring an adaptation of his brilliant work to life on HBO,” Mazin, now sole showrunner on the program, said in his own statement (via Variety). “I couldn’t have asked for a more generous creative partner. As a true fan of Naughty Dog and Neil’s work in video games, I’m beyond excited to play his next game. While he focuses on that, I’ll continue to work with our brilliant cast and crew to deliver the show our audience has come to expect. We are so grateful to Neil and Halley Gross for entrusting the incredible story of The Last Of Us Part II to us, and we’re just as grateful to the millions of people around the world who tune in.”
