Neil Druckmannis on top of the world right now.

At first glance,The Last of Usis yet another in a long line of zombie stories.

An article inThe Hollywood Reporterdetailed the zombie pitch Druckmann came up with.

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The computer class professor took the idea to Romero, but the famed director passed.

Druckmann told The Hollywood Reporter, “He didn’t like it.

He picked something else.”

Pedro Pascal as Joel Miller sitting on a couch in The Last of Us Season 2

Image via United Film Distribution Company

Instead, it fueled him.

Druckmann followed his dream and ended up being hired by the gaming company Naughty Dog.

What happened next would change his life forever.

The zombies attack in an elevator in ‘Dawn of the Dead’

Image via United Film Distribution Company

Give this man his Emmy!

The Last of Usgot our attention because of its characters.

George Romero’s zombie films are so much about characters and deeper themes.

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It’s the living humans who matter way more than the undead.

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The Last Of Us