Cast:
Boys:
Joel: Hugh Jackman
Tommy: Christain Bale
David: Adrien Brody
Girls:
Ellie: Girl Meets World era Sabrina Carpenter (she's totally got the attitude for it, this movie would release in 2014 or so)
Sarah: Hana Hayes
Tess: Cobie Smulders
Marline: Zoe Saldana
Maria: Margot Robbie
Riley: Amandla Stanberg (Rue from Hunger Games)(flashbacks only)
Here's the big list of important scenes from the game:
1. Opening / Sarah's death
2. Boston / Robert
3. Meeting Ellie / Outside the wall
4. Collapsed building / subway
5. Capitol building / Tess' death
6. The walk outside / outskirts of Bill's town (Car is the MacGuffin)
7. Meeting Bill / nail bombs / various fights / church
8. Bill's school / meet the bloaters
9. Frank / car push
10. Pittsburgh ambush
11. The hotel / the hotel basement / bookstore
13. Armored car / bacon / Meet Sam and Henry
14. Escape Pittsburgh
15. The sewers
16. The suburbs / sniper / goodbye Sam and Henry
17. Dam / meet Tommy
18. Learn about horses / you're not my daughter
19. "Never mind, I'll take her to UEC"
20. University
21. Science building
22. Rebar
23. Ellie on her own / meet David (a pretty great guy) / infected fights / Lakeside resort
24. More David (not such a great guy) / Good morning, Joel
25. BBQ Ellie / Joel on his way
26. Ellie and David fight, etc.
27. Welcome to SLC / giraffes
28. The tunnels and the infected therein
29. Conversation between Joel and Marlene (setting up the last part: Ellie is the MacGuffin)
30. Fight to get to Ellie / Marlene / Wake up in the back seat
31. Final walk to Tommy's / "Okay"
Let's whittle it down.
Opening / Sarah's death (Vital; explains why Joel is who he is, sets up this world and why we care about this character)
Boston / Robert (We'll need to meet Tess and care about her, but that can be handled much more efficiently. Or Tess will be cut out, since she's not really that important to the story. This part is more about learning game controls /mechanics. Maybe a passing meeting with Marlene.)
Meeting Ellie / Outside the wall (Meeting Ellie, and seeing how tough she is at the beginning will contrast with who she is later in the game. Also, "get the girl to the Capitol" is the only goal at this point. {Can't cut it unless we do an end-run around most of the movie and the mission becomes "get the girl to SLC" or something})
Collapsed building / subway (Gone. Tess will have to get bitten at some point, but all of this is filler.)
Capitol building / Tess' death (Not vital to the story, if we can get rid of Tess another way.)
The walk outside / outskirts of Bill's town (Car is the MacGuffin) (This and most of the Bill parts could be rolled up into one sequence. I would keep some kind of Bill in the movie, but would condense the infected fights)
Meeting Bill / nail bombs / various fights / church
Bill's school / meet the bloaters
Frank / car push
Pittsburgh ambush (This is the first real set piece in the game. Until now the action has been pretty small. At Pittsburgh, the game kicks into high gear. We need to learn to fear / hate the hunters. This idea could be rolled into the bookstore / hotel)
The hotel / the hotel basement / bookstore (The hotel is an absolute game high point. This will be in the movie)
Armored car / bacon / Meet Sam and Henry (Sam and Henry are important. They're an emotional punch to the guts. But do they really move the story forward? Questionable. I might cut them. In game, we feel a connection with them because we go through a lot together. On screen, not sure they're worth the time it would take to connect, just to have that taken away.)
Escape Pittsburgh
The sewers (Another set piece; not sure who will be IN the sewer but this will have to be in there. It's a huge part of the game's flavor)
The suburbs / sniper / goodbye Sam and Henry (If we do away with or minimize Sam and Henry, an encounter with a sniper could be a brief detour)
Dam / meet Tommy (The combat in this part will disappear)
Learn about horses / you're not my daughter (The combat in this part is gone too. But the conversation in the ranch stays; it's the emotional nut of the game)
"Never mind, I'll take her to UEC" (I suspect we'll have a quick goodbye with Tommy {if he even makes the cut at all}; there won't be any I'll take her / No I'll take her)
University
Science building (Vital, unless the movie goes from Boston straight to SLC, but that would short-circuit most of the emotional bond between Joel and Ellie)
Rebar
Ellie on her own / meet David (a pretty great guy) / infected fights / Lakeside resort (Will be minimized)
More David (not such a great guy) / Good morning, Joel
BBQ Ellie / Joel on his way
Ellie and David fight, etc.
Welcome to SLC / giraffes
The tunnels and the infected therein (In game, this is the last time we see infected. the story moves forward fine without this)
Conversation between Joel and Marlene (setting up the last part: Ellie is the MacGuffin)
Fight to get to Ellie / Marlene / Wake up in the back seat
Final walk to Tommy's / "Okay"
So with this first edit, what do we have?
Opening / Sarah's death
Meeting Ellie / Outside the wall
The walk outside / outskirts of Bill's town
possible trim
Meeting Bill / nail bombs / various fights / church
Bill's school / meet the bloaters
Frank / car push
Pittsburgh ambush
The hotel / the hotel basement / bookstore
Armored car / bacon / Meet Sam and Henry
Escape Pittsburgh
The sewers
possible trim / condense:
The suburbs / sniper / goodbye Sam and Henry
Dam / meet Tommy
Learn about horses / you're not my daughter
University
Science building
Rebar
Ellie on her own / meet David (a pretty great guy) / infected fights / Lakeside resort
More David (not such a great guy) / Good morning, Joel
BBQ Ellie / Joel on his way combined with Ellie and David fight, etc.
Welcome to SLC / giraffes
Conversation between Joel and Marlene
Fight to get to Ellie / Marlene / Wake up in the back seat
Final walk to Tommy's / "Okay"
Getting better. Probably still too long. Okay, what can I cut further or what will be too costly to pull off effectively? Luckily this is a gritty world which will be easier to shoot. The infected will probably be a combination of heavy practical effects mixed with a little CGI, so they won't be too costly. But huge sets that don't add to the story might go. Lets trim brutally:
Tess is out, or she dies quickly. Bill is out, car acquired some other way. Pittsburgh stays, Hotel stays and eats a lot of budget. Maybe hotel and bookstore are rolled together. Sewers stay, but the split up doesn't happen because Sam and Henry are out. Sewers are short. Suburbs are out, sniper is a brief diversion Tommy / dam are out. Maybe we stop off at Jackson City so there's a reason to live after. Ranch house stays. University is shortened, mostly science building just so we can get to rebar. Ellies fight with David against the infected: Out. She goes directly to the "he's gonna eat me" stage; David is never an okay guy. BBQ Ellie / Joel comes to her aid stays. Major bonding point. Welcome to SLC is short, gets right to the CGI giraffes. Tunnels are out. Conversation with Marlene stays. Fight to get to Ellie stays. Doctor killin' stays, Marlene killin' stays, pretty much the rest of the move follows the game.
That leaves us with: Sarah / Get out of Boston and get a car / Get to Pittsburgh and have a bad time / Leave Pittsburgh by the sewers / Go to the science building / Rebar / Ellie vs David, with fire / Giraffes / Fight the fireflies / Kill Marlene / "Okay"
That's a movie cut to the very barest of bones, and it's STILL got a lot going on for 2 hours.