News

With The Last of Us Part II Remastered getting a Steam release earlier this year, and on the heels of creator Neil Druckmann exiting the HBO adaptation ahead of the upcoming third season, Naughty Dog has released a new “Chronological” update for the game. As the name entails, the new update now lets players experience the story of The Last of Us Part II chronologically.

Those of you who have played the game know the game’s story is told non-linearly, played out across flashbacks and present-day storylines. According to Naughty Dog, the new update allows players to gain “even deeper insight into Part II‘s narrative,” explaining that the update allows players to see the parallels between Ellie and Abby’s crisscrossing journeys.

The Chronological update also includes a few goodies for those players who jump into this “new, transformative approach” to the story. Alongside new trophies and achievements,...

We’ve gotten very little news of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet since it was revealed at The Game Awards last year. Naughty Dog’s next big release has been long-awaited, but we know so little about it. But if this new leak from 4chan of all places is to be believed, we might know a lot more than we think.

According to an anonymous poster claiming to have worked in Quality Assurance from February to May 2025, the game could be a mix of The Last of Us Part II, Dark Souls, and God of War (2018). It’s a pretty crazy claim for sure, and one that we have to look at with skepticism. Because let’s face it, how often has a 4chan leak turned out to be real?

Details About Naughty Dog’s Next Game Just Got Leaked… On 4Chan

The leak describes Intergalactic as having a “nested sandbox” structure.

Look, I get it. The moment you hear “The Last of Us is getting another edition,” your eyes probably start rolling involuntarily. We’ve all been there, watching Naughty Dog and Sony milk their post-apocalyptic cash cow with the dedication of a dairy farmer.

But here’s the thing about their latest Chronological Mode update: it’s actually brilliant. And I’m not just saying that because it’s free.

This new The Last of Us Part II mode lets you experience Ellie and Abby’s stories in linear chronological order instead of the original back-and-forth narrative structure. Sure, it sounds like another excuse to repackage existing content, but this time they’ve created something genuinely worthwhile. The mode completely reshapes how you understand the story’s emotional beats and character motivations.

For once, I’m not mad about getting the Skyrim treatment. Here’s why you shouldn’t be either.

The 2025 Humanitas Prize nominations have been announced, once again honoring television and film writers who masterfully explore the depth of the human experience. This year’s awards will be presented at a Sept. 7 ceremony in Hollywood hosted by actress and comedian Fortune Feimster.

On the TV side, drama nominees include Emmy contenders The Pitt, The Last of Us, The Handmaid's Tale, and Brilliant Minds. Comedy contenders include The Studio, The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh, A Man on the Inside, and Clean Slate. Limited series being honored include Dying for Sex, Interior Chinatown, Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, and Say Nothing.

In the film categories, last year's Oscar contenders Conclave, Nickel Boys, and Sing Sing will battle it out for Best Drama Feature, while Dìdi (弟弟), My Old Ass, and A Real Pain compete in comedy. Inside Out 2, Out of My Mind, and The Wild Robot are nominated for Best Family Feature.

The Humanitas org has revealed nominations for this year’s Humanitas Prizes, which will reveal winners at Avalon Hollywood on Sept. 7, hosted by actress/writer/comedian Fortune Feimster. Among the nominees on the TV side are “The Pitt,” “The Last of Us” and “The Studio,” while film nods include “Inside Out 2” and “The Nickel Boys.”

Also announced on Wednesday: Gina Prince-Bythewood will join Mara Brock Akil in presenting Lena Waithe with one of Humanitas’ top honors, the Voice for Change Award. As Variety first revealed in May, Waithe was chosen for this year’s prize because it “honors those who have created or championed visionary and courageous storytelling.”

A nonprofit that seeks to “honor and empower writers of film and television exploring the human experience,” Humanitas last year honored projects including “Hacks,” “Fellow Travelers,” “Black Cake” and Ava DuVernay‘s “Origin.”

The Humanitas Prizes are for film and television...

“The Last of Us” Season 2 soundtrack is coming to vinyl from Mondo.

In addition to 37 score tracks composed by Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming, there are four vocal songs, including actor Bella Ramsey‘s rendition of A-ha‘s “Take on Me.”

The 3xLP album is pressed on 140-gram deluxe blend colored vinyl and housed in tri-gatefold jacket with a soft-touch finish designed by Janie Peacock.

“Working on the music for the second season of ‘The Last of Us’ allowed me to delve deeper into this extraordinary story originally created by Neil Druckmann for the game and masterfully reimagined for the HBO series by Neil and Craig Mazin,” said Santaolalla.

“This is a season filled with unexpected narrative turns and introduces some very important new characters. Collaborating once again with David Fleming has been instrumental in achieving a balance between emotionally introspective moments and action-driven sequences. I chose once more to stay true to the sounds,...

The hit HBO series The Last of Us, based on the video game of the same name (and its sequel), will continue on into season 3, even with the video game’s co-creator Neil Druckmann stepping back from his creative involvement with the show – but while we wait to see how that turns out, Deadline reports that The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey has signed on to star in the thriller drama Maya as the title character.

Written and created by BAFTA-nominated actress Daisy Haggard, who will also be making her directorial debut on the six-part series, Maya centers on the teenage daughter of Anna (Haggard). The pair leave their lives in London and are forced into a witness protection program with new identities in a small rural Scottish town. The trauma of their past continues to haunt them as the attempt to settle into a new life, with two...

This week on the Pilot TV Podcast we're heading into hard sci-fi territory, so buckle up! Yes, the arrival of Foundation Season 3 on Apple TV+ brings with it a serious dose of Jamesplaining as resident speculative fiction fanatic James Dyer not only sits down for a nerdy natter with series star Jared Harris about psychohistory, four-dimensional objects, and cloning [32:00 — 46:46 approx.], but also treats co-hosts Boyd Hilton and Kay Ribeiro to an extensive primer on Apple's ambitious, millennia spanning adaptation of Isaac Asimov's famously headspinning books.

Elsewhere, James, Kay, and Boyd get stuck into a listener question that has them reflecting on shows that didn't get the awards their acclaim warranted (*cough* Better Call Saul *cough*); dig into this week's telly news, including Neil Druckmann's The Last Of Us exit, Invasion's Season 3 renewal on Apple TV+ and The Bear's Season 5 renewal over on Disney+, and Jennifer Aniston's...

Squid Game Season 3 Cut VIP Screen Time (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Netflix brought back Squid Game with a shorter and tighter season 3, and the return of the VIPs stirred things up again. These masked figures, first seen at the end of season 1, appeared once more in the second half of the new season. Their presence, which is always known for their cold amusement in watching others suffer, always feels jarring, and this time, they had a bit more involvement in the games, but not as much as originally planned.

A real life Squid Game where the participants are these VIPs cringy, horrible actors pic.twitter.com/ErmsxNqWjk

— a.gui (@a_gui117) June 28, 2025

Editor Removed Several VIP Scenes in Post-Production

According to Screenrant, many of their scenes were cut during editing. Nam Na-young, the editor, explained that when too much time was spent in the VIP rooms, the emotional grip of the games started to slip.

Lee Jong-Suk’s Law And The City Ott Release(Photo Credit –Instagram)

After Big Mouth and While You Were Sleeping, which were released in 2022 and 2017, respectively, Lee Jong-Suk is back with another legal drama, Law and the City. This K-drama is also going to feature Mun Ka-Young, Kang You-Seok, Im Sung-Jae, Ryu Hye-Young, and others. The storyline revolves around Jong-Suk’s character, Ahn Ju-Hyeong, a competent but cold-hearted lawyer.

With all the teasers and poster releases, fans have already shown a lot of interest in the series. It has been buzzing ever since the drama was announced. After completing military service, this will be Jong-Suk’s first lead role in a K-drama. Although he is also gearing up for his next projects, this one will definitely be special to his fans. So, if you want to know where and how to watch it, scroll ahead.

Where & How To Watch Law and the City?...

The season 2 finale of HBO’s The Last of Us aired and streamed over a month ago. Normally, unless something major happens, it takes a while before any big news about the project's next season comes up. Sadly, that's the case here as a major creative development has just been announced.

As confirmed by Deadline, The Last of Us video game and co-creator Neil Druckmann is stepping away from the HBO program to focus on Naughty Dog games. In a heartfelt quote, he 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."

HBO Max...

We’ve got questions, and you’ve (maybe) got answers! With another week of TV gone by, we’re lobbing queries left and right about Netflix’s Leanne Morgan sitcom, The Bear, The Last of Us and more!

1 | Is the wedding cake table from The Bear Episode 7 like the Tardis? It gets bigger on the inside? And which returning guest star do you think they had available for the least amount of time: Sarah Paulson or Bob Odenkirk?

More from TVLineIronheart Head Writer Shares the Sweet, Real-Life Inspiration for Landon, the Kid With the WagonThe Sandman Season 2, Volume 1 Finale: Dream Spills Family Blood,...

What Happened At The End Of The Bear Season 4? (Photo Credit – Hotstar)

In the world of TV dramas that keep audiences on the edge of their couch cushions, The Bear has always been the show that delivers tension with a side of seared scallops. Season 4 dropped all ten episodes in one go on June 25, 2025, and while the food still looks divine and everything was chef’s kiss, the response this time has been lukewarm.

The finale doesn’t go out with fire alarms and slammed doors like Season 3, but it still ends on a note that screams that they are not done yet! With Carmy making a shocking move to step away from the chaos, viewers are now stuck wondering if Season 5 is even on the burner or if this is FX’s final service call.

Despite what critics are saying, The Bear S4 is a return to form. If S3 was navigating depression,...

Neil Druckmann, the creator of The Last of Us video games and co-creator of the HBO series, has revealed that he will be exiting the show ahead of its third season.

The announcement was followed by the news that writer Halley Gross, who penned The Last of Us Part II video game alongside Druckmann, has also decided to step away.

Druckmann was heavily involved with the first two seasons of the survival horror drama series as a showrunner, writer and executive producer alongside co-creator Craig Mazin, but has now decided to end his involvement in order to dedicate “complete focus” to Naughty Dog and the developer's future video game projects (whether one of those projects will turn out to be a third The Last of Us game remains to be seen).

“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO,...

Kim Go-Eun Returns in Yumi’s Cells Season 3, Premiering in 2026 With New Love Interests and Familiar Faces(Photo Credit –Instagram)

Yumi’s Cells first premiered in 2021. Based on a popular webtoon, the psychological romance drama revolves around the character Kim Yumi (played by Kim Go-Eun). It explores her daily life as an ordinary office worker, but through her brain cells, which play a very important role in the series. The K-drama has already streamed two seasons so far, and it is returning for the third season.

Tving’s beloved K-drama featured a stellar star cast in the last two seasons, including Ahn Bo-Hyun, GOT7’s Park JinYoung, Park Ji-Hyun, Lee Yoo-Bi, Choi Min-Ho, and others in important roles. Now, as season 3 has been confirmed and the filming has begun, scroll ahead to know everything about it.

Yumi’s Cells: Who’s Going To Star In It?

Yumi’s Cells is the first Korean...

With Neil Druckmann Out, Can Craig Mazin Deliver a Powerful The Last of Us Season 3 on His Own?(Photo Credit –Facebook)

In a surprising development (via Variety), Neil Druckmann, the co-creator of the widely acclaimed series The Last of Us, has decided to step away from the show in terms of his creative involvement. Instead, he will focus on Naughty Dog’s upcoming games. However, he will continue to be credited as an executive producer on the series. For the unversed, Neil Druckmann was also the co-developer of the original, immensely popular video game franchise. Later, he joined forces with Craig Mazin to adapt the post-apocalyptic tale for the small screen. Now, the big question is: Can Craig Mazin handle The Last of Us Season 3 without Neil Druckmann’s creative input? Here’s our take.

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Can...

There’s a big change happening with HBO’s hit show “The Last of Us.” Neil Druckmann, who co-created the series and worked as a writer and director alongside showrunner Craig Mazin, is stepping away from the show. This means Mazin will be the only showrunner as the series moves into its third season.

Druckmann, well known for his role at the game studio Naughty Dog, is leaving to focus fully on his next big project with the company. He 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...

There’s a major change happening behind the scenes of HBO’s hit show “The Last of Us.” Neil Druckmann, who co-created the series and served as a writer and director alongside showrunner Craig Mazin, is stepping away from the show. This leaves Mazin as the only showrunner moving into the third season.

Druckmann, known for his work at Naughty Dog, is leaving the show to focus entirely on his next big project with the game studio. In a statement, he explained, “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...

Enough time passed between the first season of The Last of Us on HBO and the second season that the cast had time to age. To be fair, it was mostly featured star Bella Ramsey, and it wasn't even them. It was their character, Ellie.

Ellie went from teenager to early 20s (we think), but her level of maturity was wonderfully portrayed by Ramsey. This was helped by the creators and writers of the show producing material that would make the actors' work easy. But now we know the actors' work might be less easy in season 3.

According to Deadline, series co-creator Neil Druckmann has decided to step away in terms of the artistic side. He won't write or direct any of the episodes for the next season, whenever that arrives. The hope is that it comes in 2027, but what the show will look like at that point is anyone's guess.

It’s been a major year for video games across TV and film, but the latest development out of HBO’s “The Last of Us” suggests an uncertain future for even top games creatives in Hollywood. On Wednesday, the co-writers behind the “The Last of Us: Part II” — a best-selling horror video game that broke records and won 2020’s Game of the Year hundreds of times — announced they would both immediately exit the TV show.

Does the rise and fall of Neil Druckmann at HBO suggest Hollywood is effectively shutting out the creative input of gamers, after looting their greatest hits?

HBO’s take on Druckmann and Halley Gross’ beloved zombie apocalypse game “The Last of Us: Part II” already deviated significantly from its source material. That could explain the show’s dramatic decline in viewership last season, a problem some fans say the writers’ exit will only make worse.

It's the day of the long knives at The Last of Us—and this time, it’s not just Neil Druckmann stepping back as Halley Gross, who previously worked on Westworld and co-wrote The Last of Us Part II alongside Druckmann, has now confirmed she won’t be returning to the HBO adaptation as it heads into Season 3. Gross, a key figure in the series from the very beginning, joined Druckmann in announcing her departure.

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. 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.

With the end of Season 2 of HBO's The Last of Us, we already knew that the third season would see a significant change in front of the camera — with Kaitlyn Dever's Abby taking over the spotlight as the perspective shifts from Bella Ramsey's Ellie.

But an announcement on Wednesday from the video game's creative director and series cocreator Neil Druckmann means a serious shake-up is also going on behind the scenes.

"I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO," Druckmann wrote in a statement posted to the Instagram account of game publisher, Naughty Dog.

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"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 first two seasons of The Last of Us TV show had two showrunners behind the wheel: Craig Mazin, the guy behind the HBO his Chernobyl; and Neil Druckmann, the guy who spearheaded the first two Last of Us video games from Naughty Dog.

Now, Druckmann has revealed that he's stepping back from HBO's zombie drama. “I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in ‘The Last of Us’ on HBO,” he said in a statement. “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.”

Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It's been an honor to work...

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Last Of Us Season 2

Just when we thought HBO's The Last Of Us had finished breaking our collective hearts for another year with Season 2, today has brought with it news of another unexpected, premature department from the franchise — and this one is, in its way, just as shocking as Joel's. Per Deadline's reporting, Neil Druckmann — creator of The Last Of Us video games and co-creator/co-writer alongside Craig Mazin on the first two seasons of HBO's show — is stepping back from the critically acclaimed series ahead of Season 3 before work begins on the post-apocalyptic show's return. And the Naughty Dog studio head took to his own socials earlier this evening to explain why — as you can see below;

Citing his work on Naughty Dog's upcoming sci-fi epic Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet and professional responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative at...

Fans of HBO's "The Last of Us" will probably be shocked to learn that co-creator and co-showrunner Neil Druckmann, who developed the original PlayStation games with his Naughty Dog team, is stepping down as co-showrunner. With that said, fans of Naughty Dog's game portfolio might have good reason to be really excited.

"I've made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in 'The Last of Us' on HBO," Druckmann, who previously served as co-showrunner alongside Craig Mazin ("Chernobyl"), said in a statement posted on Naughty Dog's official Instagram account. "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."

"Co-creating the...

The Last of Us Season 2 may be over, but HBO is already looking ahead to the future of the renewed series, gearing up for Season 3 of the post-apocalyptic series based on the popular video games. While viewers saw Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie’s (Bella Ramsey) journey together come to a heartbreaking conclusion earlier in Season 2, Ellie’s story continued as she sought revenge for his death. But after some seriously shocking revelations at the end of Season 2, what could possibly be next? Behind the scenes, the drama is just as gripping as co-creator Neil Druckmann steps down from his duties in its third season. Some exciting details about the show’s future have already been revealed. Scroll down for a closer look at what’s to come and stay tuned for more details as The Last of Us Season 3 takes shape at HBO. When will The Last of Us Season 3 premiere?...

HBO is experiencing a seismic creative shift regarding its hit series The Last of Us. Neil Druckmann, who co-created the Naughty Dog video games the series is inspired by, is stepping back from the HBO adaptation ahead of Season 3. According to sources, Druckmann will not direct or write any Season 3 episodes, though he remains a co-creator and executive producer.

“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 said in a statement Wednesday. “Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It’s...

And you thought Joel was going to be The Last of Us‘ biggest loss going into Season 3.

Neil Druckmann, who co-created both the HBO series and the video games on which it is based, announced Wednesday that he’s departing the day-to-day operation of the series.

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“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO,...

Neil Druckmann, the creator of the video game The Last of Us and co-creator of its series adaptation, is exiting the show ahead of season three.

The game’s creator made the announcement on X via video game developer Naughty Dog.

“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO,” Druckmann said in a statement. “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.”

The statement continues, “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.

It’s the last of “The Last of Us” with video game creator Neil Druckmann. The TV series co-creator announced that he will no longer be part of the HBO show ahead of its third season.

“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in ‘The Last of Us’ on HBO,” Druckmann wrote in a statement shared on the official Naughty Dog Instagram account. “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.”

Druckmann 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.

HBO's The Last of Us has lost one of its key showrunners before production on season 3 gets underway.

Neil Druckmann, the creator and writer of The Last of Us video game franchise and studio head at Naughty Dog, has stepped away from HBO's TV adaptation of his acclaimed video game series. Druckmann's official statement to his Naughty Dog team was posted on Naughty Dog's Instagram account.

View this post on InstagramA post shared by Naughty Dog (@naughty_dog_inc) What Neil Druckmann's Absence Means For The Last Of Us Season 3 Druckmann Was Very Involved In The Creative Process Of Seasons 1 & 2

Neil Druckmann's sudden exit from HBO's The Last of Us between seasons 2 and 3 is certainly shocking. As the original source of all things The Last of Us, having written the first 2013 video game and directed its 2020 follow-up, Druckmann's influence is undoubtedly felt across the first two seasons of HBO's adaptation.

HBO's flagship video game adaptation, The Last of Us, is coming back for another season, but it will be missing a key component from the post-apocalyptic franchise. One of the best aspects of the award-winning series is how faithful it is to the source material, thanks to the game's original creator having a significant role as co-showrunner. However, a behind-the-scenes shuffle will force The Last of Us to continue on without one-half of its creative braintrust.

Per The Ankler, The Last of Us creator, writer, and director Neil Druckmann has left the HBO series ahead of Season 3. Fortunately, it does not seem the creative split was personal, as Druckmann had plenty of praise for his creative partner, Craig Mazin, who will end up writing all of the scripts for the third season. However, as development began to ramp up, Druckmann figured that it was the right time to depart the...

A show known for its devastating character departures now has a big one behind the scenes: The Last of Us co-showrunner Neil Druckmann is exiting the HBO hit series.

The move leaves his co-creator Craig Mazin as the show’s sole showrunner going into a third season. Druckmann will continue to carry a co-creator and executive producer credit on the show.

The shakeup comes on the heels of a divisive second season, which surprisingly declined a bit in the ratings (though, to be fair, the season was based strongly on the second PlayStation game, The Last of Us Part Two, which likewise sold less than the first game).

Druckmann said in a statement: “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...

There is a big creative shakeup happening on HBO’s The Last of Us as Season 3 gets underway.

Neil Druckmann, who co-created and directed the Naughty Dog video games for Sony Playstation and has been quite hands on throughout the first two seasons of the TV adaptation, will take a step back from the series creatively for Season 3, sources confirm to Deadline.

Per sources, Druckmann will not write or direct any Season 3 episodes. He will continue to serve as a co-creator and executive producer.

“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...

The Last of Us, which adapted the popular video game of the same name, was a massive success when it premiered in 2023. Season 2, however, drew a lot of criticism over many creative decisions and storylines.

The Last of Us is already renewed for Season 3, which has yet to start production. However, the show, which was created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, will experience a major change for the upcoming season. Per The Ankler, co-creator Neil Druckmann will not return to Season 3, and Mazin will write the new episodes alone.

pic.twitter.com/baQee9IpHO— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) July 2, 2025

Instead, Neil Druckmann will focus on his new Naughty Dog game. Druckmann had previously confirmed that they're working on another game in addition to Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet last month. However, he didn't reveal any details about the genre or title. However, that led to him to step down from...

Neil Druckmann, who created the video game The Last of Us, is exiting the HBO series based on his work.

He wrote in a statement, “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.” If you don’t know, Naughty Dog is a video game developer, and Neil is the studio head and head of creative at the company.

Head inside for the rest of his statement…

“Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It’s been an honor to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce,...

Updated: Neil Druckmann has announced he is stepping away from “The Last of Us” TV series at HBO.

“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO,” Druckmann said in a statement posted to the official Naughty Dog Instagram account. “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.”

“Co-creating the show has been a career highlight,” he 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...

Neil Druckmann, the creator of video game “The Last of Us,” has exited from HBO’s TV adaptation ahead of Season 3.

Druckmann, who was deeply involved in the first two seasons of the drama series working alongside co-creator Craig Mazin, will end his creative involvement in the show’s upcoming third season as he turns his “complete focus” to Naughty Dog, the video game studio behind “The Last of Us,” and its future projects. Executive producer Halley Gross is also exiting.

“I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in ‘The Last of Us’ on HBO,” Druckmann said in a Wednesday statement. “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,...

The Last of Ushas been hit with a shocking blow after what was a rocky and divisive second season. The Ankler is reporting that Neil Druckmann, the main creative force behind the game and one of the showrunners on the television adaptation, is stepping back from the third and fourth seasons of HBO's hit series in order to focus on the newest game being developed at Naughty Dog. Druckmann soon after issued a statement announcing his decision to step back from the creative involvement of the series.

"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,...

5 TV Shows With Brutal & Shocking Main Character Deaths! (Photo Credit – Hotstar)

Game of Thrones shocked the world when it axed Ned Stark before the first season even wrapped. But believe it or not, some shows have gone even harder, killing off their leads before you could blink. Ned’s death was no random twist. Sean Bean’s Eddard Stark was the moral anchor, the face of the show. His beheading at the hands of Joffrey wasn’t just bold storytelling; it was a signal. No one was safe, and Westeros didn’t play by TV rules.

But Game of Thrones didn’t invent the shock-exit playbook. At least, the central figure, Daenerys Targaryen, lived until the finale, Season 8, Episode 6. Plenty of shows have taken that swing, sometimes for story, sometimes because life got messy off-screen. When it’s pulled off right, though, it doesn’t just twist the plot. It leaves a mark.

When the dust settled, there were 177 submissions in the Best Drama Directing category for the 2025 Emmys. Based on the TV Academy's calculus, there will be seven finalists when the nominations are announced July 15.

The vast uptick in submissions, when compared to the writing category, is due to the number of directors put up for each show. Front-runners like Severance, The Pitt, The Last of Us, and Paradise each went for for triple entries. Meanwhile, Andor, The Diplomat, and The Handmaid’s Tale each opted for a double-play. And because some shows had only one director behind the camera throughout the duration, such as The White Lotus and Squid Game, they were only allowed one episode for the category.

While a higher number of submissions per series may result in potential vote-splitting, we have seen time and time again that passionate voters will mark down a show on the ballot multiple times,...

This article contains spoilers for The Last of Us on HBO.

Pedro Pascal may be the star of The Last of Us, but that doesn't mean he's watched both seasons completely.

Pascla has been avoiding what fans have come to know as the "porch scene", where Joel finally tells all to Ellie (Bella Ramsey) about how he killed the Fireflies who were going to kill her to save the world. "I don't wanna see it!" he said when Vanity Fair tried to show it to him during a video interview. But he did offer, "I could talk about it?"

"This was one of the hardest and easiest...days of work I've ever had," Pascal said. "We did this scene all day long." It was, he said, a scene where Joel continues his character arc by "recognizing that that truth will mean that Joel loses her, loses Ellie for good, but...

This article contains spoilers for "28 Years Later."

It may sound strange — for those of us who lived through it, it's strange to remember — but back before "28 Days Later" was released in 2002 in the UK (and 2003 in the US), the zombie subgenre was all but dead. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland have been stipulating that the creatures they created are not technically zombies since the film's release, yet the film's rage virus operates in a highly similar fashion to the version of the zombie created and popularized by George A. Romero in 1968's "Night of the Living Dead." While the subgenre of zombie films never entirely ceased after the release of Romero's first movie, it experienced a lull during the 1990s, as genre filmmakers eschewed the typical tropes inherent in the subgenre in favor of experimentation, as seen in films like "Dead Alive," "Cemetery Man," and "My Boyfriend's Back.

The Last of Us ended its first season on a high note. The finale, written by series cocreators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin, had the second-highest ratings among the first batch of episodes and proved that the cast and crew had done what was thought to be impossible.

They had successfully (and faithfully) adapted a video game.

Heading into Season 2, the Emmy-winning team behind the show, including the series' visual effect supervisor, Alex Wang, felt that they had proven their concept and were ready for something bigger. And on a show about surviving in a fungi-infested apocalypse, that means one thing.

More infected.

The VFX team had one big swarm under their belts — the infected's chaotic attack on a neighborhood cul-de-sac in Episode 5, "Endure and Survive." And for Season 2, there was only one direction in which to take things. "In the cul-de-sac, that was kind of the first glimpse of a horde of infected attacking,...

Mark Wahlberg kicked off 2025 by starring in Flight Risk, the aviation thriller from director Mel Gibson, but one of his more recent action flicks has returned to streaming charts. Wahlberg stars alongside Tom Holland in Uncharted, the controversial video game adaptation following Nathan Drake (Holland) and Victor Sullivan (Wahlberg) who journey to find a fortune lost by explorer Ferdinand Magellan 500 years ago. Uncharted is streaming on Netflix globally, and it’s one of the top 10 most popular films in the world in several countries, such as Thailand and the Czech Republic. Uncharted, which is streaming on Max and Hulu in the United States, grossed $407 million at the box office against a $120 million budget, and it earned scores of 41% from critics and 89% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.

Uncharted is based on the popular video game series by Neil Druckmann, who also created The Last of Us, which has been adapted into...

We do agree that although The Last of Us (the HBO show) is indeed one of the best video game-to-television adaptations, it doesn’t mean that the show is perfect in every aspect.

One of the most debated scenes in the second season was Ellie saying, “I’m going to be a dad” when Dina reveals her pregnancy. Well, gamers who have played The Last of Us Part II know very well that the scene plays out a lot differently in the game. However, The Last of Us season 2, which came up with the dialogue, was too casual about it.

It wasn’t the best that The Last of Us had to offer

Since it is an adaptation, there were bound to be differences between the show and the video game. However, a significant change in emotions and an outright downplay of emotions was something unexpected of writer and showrunner Craig Mazin.

It’s been just a few weeks since season 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us concluded. The show had thrilled audiences throughout its second season and it did so once again with the season finale, with featured the death of a great character and the return of Abby, who hasn’t been seen since the season 2 premiere.

The season 2 finale ends with a gunshot, the screen goes black, and then a flashback to days earlier from Abby’s perspective. And, unlike what many think, Abby's home is brighter and more vibrant than people would have expected. Thankfully, if you want to know more, you’re in luck. Season 3 of HBO’s The Last of Us will star Kaitlyn Dever as Abby, as we learn what she’s been up to after killing Joel.

Kaitlyn Dever will lead The Last of Us season 3 as Abby

The Last of Us creative...

Forget Clickers — the real terror for The Last of Us fans is seeing their favorite episodes ranked low on best-of lists.

Based on the beloved video game, HBO's zombie apocalypse drama follows Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they struggle to survive in a world full of zombie-like creatures who were transformed after a mass fungal infection. To date, 16 episodes have aired — nine in Season 1 (2023) and seven in Season 2 (2025) — and a third season has been ordered. While most of the episodes wowed viewers, some had fans reaching for their remotes. Scroll through our gallery below to see The Last of Us episodes ranked worst to best.

Some of the human characters Joel and Ellie meet along the way include Tommy (Gabriel Luna), Joel's younger brother; Tess (Anna Torv), Joel's initial partner; Riley (Storm Reid), Ellie's childhood best friend; Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett), gay survivalists who...

The second season of The Last of Us started with a bang when lead character Joel (Pedro Pascal) was murdered in front of his daughter Ellie (Bella Ramsey). Ellie spent the rest of the season trying to get revenge; she traveled to Seattle to hunt down Joel's killers, accompanied by her friend Dina (Isabela Merced).

Along the way, the two became more than friends. At one point, Dina learned she was pregnant by her ex-boyfriend Jesse (Young Mazino), and plans hasty plans were laid for the three of them to raise the child together. Realizing the life that could be in front of her, a smile creeps onto Ellie's face. "I'm gonna be a dad," she says.

That line inspired a bit of a firestorm online, with fans calling it cringe, bad, dumb and also gross. Speaking to Gamespot, showrunner Craig Mazin explained how the line came about. “Bella and...

The Last of Us video game series is one of the best zombie survival franchises in the entire industry. The games in this series are not just about surviving or gathering resources; they give you the raw and brutal truth of what can happen in an actual zombie apocalypse. Every moment in the game is drenched in emotional impact, making you feel like your choices have a bigger impact.

The video game franchise blesses us with complex and convoluted characters that make the experience feel much more real, and with The Last of Us Season 3 being confirmed, fans are ready with their pitchforks if the director of the TV series ruins another character from the beloved franchise. Let’s delve deeper into this.

The Last of Us season 2 made Ellie annoying

The Last of Us is an action-adventure video game franchise that was developed by Naughty Dog. The first game...