The Last of Us showrunner helped write Dune: Part Two

HBO has been awash in hits lately, from House of the Dragon to The White Lotus to Succession. (And then there’s The Idol, but we don’t need to dwell on that.) One of its biggest new series is The Last of Us, based on the video game series of the same name from Naughty Dog. The show came hard out of the gate earlier this year, and fans everywhere are hunkering down to wait for the second season.

Original game developer Neil Druckmann teamed up with showrunner Craig Mazin to bring the show to life. Before The Last of Us, Mazin produced the HBO drama Chernobyl, also a very well-written drama. He’s also credited with getting the original, disastrous Game of Thrones pilot on track. The guy has writing bona fides.

So it’s no surprise that prominent directors seek out his help. And Mazin is willing to oblige if the job is right. “I’m out of the movie business, basically,” he said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I’ll work with certain directors when they call because I love them and because they’re so brilliant, so if, like, Denis Villeneuve calls, then absolutely. I’m there for, three-four weeks, a month, to work on what you’re working on.”

Denis Villeneuve is the director of the recent Dune movie, and Mazin didn’t drop his name idly. “I am a participating writer in Dune: Part Two,” he revealed. “I came long after… I came in and did a little bit of work… It used to be that you couldn’t even say that, but now they have this additional ‘Literary material’ thing at the end, so I am ‘Additional Literary Material’.”

The “Additional Literary Material” credit was invented so writers like Mazin — who helped with the script even though they’re not the credited screenwriter — could be acknowledged for their work. “Anytime Denis makes a movie, you should be excited,” Mazin said. “He is as kind as he is brilliant. He is a rare one, he’s just remarkable.”

Of course, given that Hollywood writers are currently on strike, Mazin isn’t writing anything. But Dune: Part Two is still due out on November 3 of this year.

Go behind the scenes of the special effects on The Last of Us

As long as we’re talking about The Last of Us, special effects studio DNEG just released a video showing before-and-after shots from the series. Take a look:

Hopefully we’ll get to watch The Last of Us season 2 sometime in 2024. Here’s hoping the writers strike is resolved soon.

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