Speculation can now begin on the movie casting for Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us

Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic fungus fighting PlayStation 3 game, The Last of Us, is being turned into a live-action movie. Deadline reports that Screen Gems will distribute the film under Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures productions. Neil Druckmann of Naughty Dog, will write the script. Troy Baker, the game’s voice actor behind the lead character Joel, told IGN that he trusts Naughty Dog to supply a faitful script. Baker could not confirm or deny his involvement in the film.

While the thought of a movie based on Joel and Ellie’s trek through overgrown America is sure to set fans’ tongues wagging, the news comes at a bittersweet time for Naughty Dog. Amy Hennig, the longtime scribe at the studio and creative force behind the Uncharted series, abruptly left on March 4th. Rumors swirled concerning her departure with some accounts saying she was “forced out” by internal politics, but Naughty Dog co-presidents Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra dispute these reports saying only that the rumors were hurtful and false.