Last week it was announced that The Last of Us would get the big-screen treatment. Now, the idea behind The Last of Us could result in the first truly great video game movie, however, this is only if the material is handled properly.
As previously reported, the writing team behind the game will be working on the film. The original writer Neil Druckmann, who has made recent news with the departure of Amy Hennig, will write the screenplay for the adaptation. On top of this, Naughty Dog co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra, along with original game director Bruce Straley, are all involved with the production.
Last, the great genre director Sam Raimi will produce; though Raimi’s official role is unclear, his Ghost House Pictures, along with Screen Gems Production, is attached to produce and distribute. Again, the fans hope that Sam Raimi will actually direct the film: while Oz: The Great and Powerful was underwhelming, Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell was a fun horror romp that reminded many of his original Evil Dead trilogy.
Now more recently, GameSpot posted the question who would the fans cast as Joel and Ellie in the live-action adaptation? And I found this an interesting question because, if the movie follows the game, they will be the sole characters on screen for majority of the runtime. So the casting has to be done properly because the actors need to hold the attention of the audience.
With that said, I do not think the producers should get ‘A-list celebrities’ to play the two leads. So sorry to all the people who want to get Ellen Page for the role: yes Ellie looks like Page, but Ellen is too old to play a teenage girl. And it would be a poor choice to make Ellie older because then the story would lose some of its emotional impact. However, it is difficult to find a young girl with the ability to carry a major motion picture; but again, I hope that the writers and producers will not take the easy way out and make the character older.
(From left to right: Chloe Grace Moretz, Hailee Steinfield.)
So in my opinion, there are two-child actresses that could be perfect for the role: Chloë Grace Moretz or Hailee Steinfield. While, these are two popular actresses, I do not think their stardom will distract the audience from the final product. Furthermore, both have perfectly played a ‘head-strong’ type: Grace Moretz steals the screen in Kick Ass and Steinfield was nominated for an Oscar for True Grit. Yes, both these actresses do not have the look of Ellie, but screen presence is more important to the overall story than looks.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan could perfectly inhabit Joel.
Finally, the more important casting is for the character Joel; this video game adaptation will most likely be a big budget affair, so the studio will probably cast a known actor. However, if I had the choice to pick Joel, I would cast the underrated Jeffrey Dean Morgan. He became popular for playing the Winchester’s father on the cult-hit Supernatural and Denny Duquette on Grey’s Anatomy. But, Morgan proves he could act in Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen; in it he plays Comedian, a casting choice that I thought was terrible prior to the film’s release. Yet his on-screen charisma makes the Comedian, a violent sociopath, likable and weirdly relatable; and this would translate well to Joel. Since then, he has headlined a few movies and a Starz television show; however, none of these were financially successful and Magic City was cancelled after its second season. Again, this is a long shot, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan always had more charisma than Hollywood gave him credit.
What do you think of my casting choices? And if you disagree who would you pick to play Joel and Ellie? Also with the recent failures of video game films, do you think The Last of Us is set up to fail? Or like Assassin’s Creed and World of Warcraft, will this be a new dawn for video game movies?