It's no secret that video games don't exactly mix well with Hollywood. Studios have been trying to produce adaptations of popular gaming franchises for decades — and save for a few select films, most of the movies that come from these crossovers end up being hot garbage.
Admittedly, things have gotten better over the past few years. While the end results may not always be spectacular, video game movies are starting to feel more like actual film productions than cheap cash-ins. Video games are being taken more and more seriously these days, and it seems like that's extending to gaming adaptations as well.
One of the best examples of this new philosophy comes from one of gaming's biggest studios. Naughty Dog, creators of the Uncharted franchise and the critically-acclaimed The Last of Us have had direct involvement in both of the series' film adaptations. It's a hands-on approach that simply didn't exist a few years ago ... though it may not be working out as well as everyone thought it would.
In an interview with the Frame, Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann spoke on both films' current status — and it's not looking good. According to Druckmann, both projects are stuck in development limbo, and probably won't be hitting theaters anytime soon.
Things really don't sound good for The Last of Us: Druckmann stated that, while he had worked on the project as a writer at one point, no progress has been made in quite some time:
"I have been a writer on it, but right now it hasn't moved anywhere in the past couple years."
Given how huge of a success The Last of Us was, it's surprising to hear that the film isn't already gearing up for production, much less stuck in the scripting phase. Back in April, Druckmann had said something similar — but no one could have known that the film had been stuck in one place for so long.
Sadly, things don't sound much better for the Uncharted movie. Druckmann barely even touched on the subject, only mentioning that the film has been in production for nearly a decade:
"The Uncharted film has been in development now for, I think nine years — so we've learned these things happen at their own time, very slowly."
As sad as it is to say, it looks like two of gaming's biggest film projects are in some serious trouble. That's not to say that the movies will never make it to theaters ... but it could be several years before either production really starts moving forward again.
Granted, Naughty Dog is one of the busiest studios in the gaming industry, so it makes sense that secondary projects such as these wouldn't be a priority — even so, it's still a shame that two of the most promising video game adaptations don't seem to be going anywhere.
