'The Last of Us' Game Filmed A Musical Alternate Ending

Video Games

Mar 24

WARNING Spoilers For The Last Of Us

Following the premiere of HBO Max’s The Last of Us, Naughty Dog’s game saw a 238% increase on PS5 and a 322% increase on PS4 in the UK alone. Many are hopping into the game for the first time, while others look to relive the excitement. Whether you’ve just finished a play-through of the game, wrapped up the first season of the show, or are simply a fan of improvised musicals, then it may pique your interest to know that there exists a filmed alternate ending to the game.

Similar to making a movie, filming a video game’s cut scenes requires many takes. Even after landing on a take that works, some directors will decide to shoot one more. As was the case when finishing the scene in which Joel takes Ellie from the operating room and shoots the doctor and Marlene. Upon landing on a take that worked, director Neil Druckman asked Merle Dandridge (Marlene) to help him pull a prank on Troy Baker (Joel) and the rest of the cast. Druckman told Baker he wanted to film one more take, and there was going to be a drastic change but to just go along with it no matter what happens. Baker didn’t know what to expect, but you can see in the video below how his improv and singing skills led to an operatic ending in the operation room.