'The Last Of Us' Movie Confirmed At Comic-Con: Who Will Play Joel And Ellie?

It’s really happening. Survival horror game “The Last of Us” will be made into a movie. Director/producer Sam Raimi made the announcement along with “The Last of Us” writer Neil Druckman during this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego, Calif., on Friday.

The film will closely follow the game’s plot -- Joel, a single father, must travel across a post-apocalyptic United States in 2033 to protect a young girl named Ellie. He must deliver her to a resistance group called the Fireflies, who believe she may be vital to curing the zombie-like infection that has destroyed the planet.

Druckman, creative director of game developer Naughty Dog, will write the script, while Raimi will produce the film. Raimi has a number of impressive sci-fi and action movies and television series under his belt, such as “Spiderman 3,” “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “30 Days of Night.”

“It’s gonna be a great character journey, a great love story and great horror fiction,” Raimi said.

Some fans suggested that “X-Men” star Hugh Jackman would be perfect for the role, also naming “Game of Thrones” actress Maisie Williams as their top choice for Ellie. Others suggested "True Grit" actor Josh Brolin for the part of Joel. We also think "Maleficent" actress Elle Fanning would be great as Ellie, though she would most likely have to dye her hair darker.

“The Last of Us” launched for the PlayStation 3 on June 13 last year and on June 20 in Japan. The survival horror title sold more than 1.3 million units during its first week and as of July, has sold more than 7 million copies worldwide.

Naughty Dog worked on the title in secret for two years after completing 2009’s “Uncharted 2.” The game was teased before the Spike Video Game Awards in November 2011 and was publicly shown in a gameplay demo at E3 2012.

After its release, the game received critical praise, earning a 95.04 percent on GameRankings. “Because the game spent so much time convincing me to care about these characters, its emotional high notes were even more effective, and its many sad scenes even more devastating,” Polygon said. GameSpot also called the “music and sound design exceptional.”