HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us has swept the 2023 Emmy nominations, becoming the second-most nominated show at the awards behind Succession. In total, The Last of Us has picked up 24 nominations, across a range of categories including Outstanding Drama Series, Production Design, Casting, Costumes, Directing, and Hairstyling. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey have also picked up nominations for best lead actor and actress, respectively.
The nominations themselves aren’t a surprise – The Last of Us is a very solid adaptation of one of gaming’s most intricate stories – but it’s important to note the accolades in relation to the series being an adaptation of a video game. As many will note, video game adaptations have, in recent years, developed a reputation for being pale imitations of their source material.
Read: The Last of Us review – Season One – A strong, worthwhile adaptation
Historically, we’ve seen a whole bunch of disappointing adaptations – most recently, with major blockbuster titles like Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed, and Uncharted, and historically with films like Doom, Price of Persia: The Sands of Time, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Super Mario Bros., and the Resident Evil franchise.
The Last of Us nabbing so many Emmy nominations, at the same time when animated series like Castlevania and Arcane are elevating popular video games, feels like some kind of curse breaking. While there will always be potential for ‘bad’ video game adaptations, it’s great to see so many making a real impact, and getting nods for quality on globally-recognised stages.
Show creators and writers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have done an incredible job re-telling the story of The Last of Us, with an impactful narrative that adapts and expands the original TLOU story. HBO’s The Last of Us is a reflection of what a good video game adaptation can become – and equally, it’s a reminder of the power of effective writing and storytelling.
As the writers of WGA strike, and Deadline sources allege Hollywood producers are prepared to let writers starve rather than negotiate fairer wages and conditions, we should remember how much impact The Last of Us and its fellow ‘prestige’ television shows had on all of us this year.
Here’s the full list of nominations achieved by The Last of Us in the lead up to the 75th Emmy Awards:
- Outstanding Drama Series
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series – Pedro Pascal
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series – Bella Ramsey
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series – Murray Bartlett
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series – Lamar Johnson
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series – Nick Offerman
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series – Keivonn Montreal Woodard
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series – Melanie Lynskey
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series – Anna Torv
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series – Storm Reid
- Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program
- Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Series
- Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Picture Editing for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling
- Outstanding Main Title Design
- Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)
- Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup
- Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)
- Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series
- Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series
- Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie
The 2023 Emmy Awards are currently set to take place on 18 September 2023, although there are discussions to push this back in light of the ongoing WGA strike.
