The Last of Us Series Co-Creator Craig Mazin Silently Pulls His Name From the Borderlands Movie Script

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The Last of Us TV series co-creator Craig Mazin has removed his name from the long-gestating Borderlands movie. As per World of Reel and confirmed through the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) website, the currently credited writers on the film are Eli Roth and Joe Crombie — the latter is a pseudonym for Mazin, suggesting that he no longer wants to be attached to the project. The film adaptation of the popular Gearbox looter-shooter appears to be in development hell, thanks to a test screening in November that led to Lionsgate being unsatisfied and ordering more work to be done on it.

Mazin's decision to use a pseudonym comes at a time when he's the most in-demand writer in Hollywood, having recently steered HBO's The Last of Us adaptation to critical acclaim, after his success with the Chernobyl miniseries. Given how messy the post-production is reported to be, with Deadpool director Tim Miller replacing Eli Roth in January for additional reshoots, it only makes sense for Mazin to not tarnish his reputation with it. At one point, Sam Levinson, creator of Euphoria and the poorly received The Idol, was also hired to right, apparently. Filming on Borderlands began in 2021, boasting a star-studded cast, which included Cate Blanchett as the magic-wielding Siren Lilith, Kevin Hart as the highly-trained soldier Roland, Jamie Lee Curtis as the erratic researcher Dr. Patricia Tannis, and Jack Black as the comic Hyperion-manufactured robot Claptrap.

First-look images of the cast's silhouette were dropped in mid-2021, following which there was no new information about the film. With Miller taking on directing duties, along came Zak Olkewicz (Bullet Train) to write some new pages for the Borderlands movie. In total seven writers were