The Last of Us hits a major Emmy milestone for video game adaptations

Super Mario Bros. was far from a critical hit, but it was nonetheless a landmark film. No, we're not talking about this year's animated movie. We're talking about the 1993 live-action film starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo, which marked Hollywood's first big live-action video game adaptation.

In the 30 years since then, live-action video game adaptations have become common in theaters and on TV, and now they've achieved another significant milestone: The Last of Us earned 24 Emmy nominations Wednesday, making it the first live-action video game adaptation to earn a major Emmy nomination.

The hit HBO show was adapted from the PlayStation game by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl, The Hangover) and game co-creator Neil Druckmann. Among its two dozen nominations are nods for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Director for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.

None of these nominations are particularly surprising, given the show's critical success. But it does mark an interesting moment for TV adaptations of video games, especially after Netflix's Arcane, an animated show based on a video game, won the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program last year.

Beyond The Last of Us, more video game adaptations are expected to keep rolling in. The show's big day at the Emmys lands the same day as the first reactions to the Neill Blomkamp-directed film Gran Turismo, based on the long-running racing game of the same name. The movie, which is based on a true story, follows a teenage gamer (Archie Madekwe) who dreams of becoming a real race car driver. The early reactions to Gran Turismo, which also stars David Harbour and Orlando Bloom, have been largely positive.

While this is a big moment for the recognition of video game adaptations, The Last of Us creators are keeping the focus elsewhere. "I am honored to be recognized by The Academy, but even more pleased to see how many of our brilliant cast and crew were nominated for their work on The Last of Us," Mazin said in a statement to EW. "That said, my priority right now is to see the day when all entertainment industry artists and craftspeople are treated fairly by the companies who convert our work into their profits. Working within the union rules, I intend to focus any promotional efforts on supporting the nominated crew of The Last of Us. Our industry's crewpeople are just as impacted by this necessary labor action; showing them our enthusiasm and love is more important now than ever."

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