HBO's "The Last of Us" and The Curse of Video Game Adaptations
This week HBO is set to release its latest show, The Last Of Us, about two strangers, who end up on a perilous journey together through a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic America.\xa0The show, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, is based on a hit video game series of the same name. It should be an easy hit for the network.
\nYet,\xa0the show's creators have had to contend with what's known as\xa0the \u201cvideo game curse.\u201d Dating back to the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, adaptations of video games into film and television have left us with a\xa0long list of critical failures. From 2022's\xa0Uncharted, to the 2021 Mortal Kombat,\xa0and the 2016 Assassin\u2019s Creed movie, which earned a whopping 19% on Rotten Tomatoes.\xa0This week, OTM Correspondent Micah Loewinger speaks with\xa0New Yorker writer and editor,\xa0Alex Barasch,\xa0about his latest piece\xa0\u2018Can a Video Game Be Prestige TV?,\u2019 if HBO's latest venture could finally break the infamous curse, and why studios continue to make productions based on video games.\xa0\xa0