After all we've been through, all the waiting we have done, it wasn't for nothing – The Last of Us is already streaming on HBO.
When Naughty Dog released The Last of Us video game in 2013, many gamers were hooked. The game focused on a smuggler escorting a young girl across a wasteland strewn with zombies and became a classic masterpiece that sold over a million copies within its first week. Now that The Last of Us is getting its own adaptation, here is everything we know about HBO's The Last of Us.
The Last of Us Series Release Date: When Will The Last of Us Series Come Out?
HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us finally premiered on the streaming site on January 15, 2023. It is set to have 10 episodes.
HBO first announced that it would be producing a television adaptation of The Last of Us in March 2020, a few months shy before the sequel of The Last of Us II was later released in June.
The Last of Us Series Filming: When did The Last of Us Television Series Start Filming?
The Director's Guild of Canada confirmed that filming for the series started in July 2021. Principal photography for the series was wrapped up in June 2022, which was confirmed when series writer Craig Mazin posted on Twitter.
The scenes for The Last of Us series were taken in locations around Calgary and Alberta in Canada.
The Last of Us Series Cast: Who are the Actors Included in the HBO Television Series?
The Last of Us cast is made up of actors who have starred in hit television shows before, so we can expect stellar performances throughout the series.
Pedro Pascal will play Joel
The series' main character is Joel, who will be played by Pedro Pascal. He recently gained much fame from playing the titular character in Disney+'s The Mandalorian. Pascal also played the villain in Wonder Woman 1984 and Nicolas Cage fan in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Aside from these projects, though, Pedro Pascal also gained many fans after his excellent portrayal of Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of HBO's Game of Thrones.
Bella Ramsey will play Ellie
Pascal is not the only Game of Thrones alum – Bella Ramsey will be playing Ellie, the other main character in The Last of Us. Ramsey carved a permanent place in the hearts of GOT fans when she played Lady Lyanna Mormont in the final season of the series. Her sharp wit and bravery, despite being one of the youngest house leaders in the series, made her portrayal of Lyanna an instant hit.
The Rest of Us
There are more stellar actors joining Pascal and Ramsey in The Last of Us.
Gabriel Luna joined the cast in April 2021 Joel's younger brother Tommy. By June of that year, HBO announced that Nico Parker will play the role of Joey's daughter.
Nick Offerman from Parks & Rec is also a part of the series as Bill, which was initially cast by Con O'Neill. Storm Reid, who first stepped into the spotlight as Rue's younger sister in HBO's Euphoria, joined the cast in January 2022 as Riley, an orphan who was Ellie's friend.
The actors who voiced Ellie and Joel in the game, Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker, are also part of the series as new characters.
On August, more actors were confirmed as cast members in The Last of Us. Lamar Johnson and Keivonn Woodard will play brothers Henry and Sam, respectively. In the video game, Joel and Ellie meet Henry and Sam in Pittsburgh and work together to escape, but in HBO's adaptation, the four will meet in Kansas City instead.
New characters are also joining the television adaption. Marlon and Florence, played by Graham Greene and Elaine Miles, are a married couple who survived independently in post-apocalyptic Wyoming. Since they are series original characters and were not part of the game, we still do not know how they fit into the narrative.
The Last of Us Series Crew: Who are the Creatives Behind the Scenes?
Craig Mazin, the Emmy award-winning writer for Chernobyl, is one of the producers of The Last of Us. Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckman is the other producer driving force behind the series. Naughty Dog is the game developer behind The Last of Us.
Kantemir Balagov will be directing The Last of Us, replacing Johan Renck, who had to leave the production of the series because of a scheduling conflict. Aside from Balagov, Jasmila Zbanic and Ali Abbasi will also be directing episodes in the first season.
Gustavo Santoalalla, the composer who scored The Last of Us and The Last of Us II, will also be creating the music for the series.
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The Last of Us Series Plot: What Will be the Plot of the TV Adaptation of the Game?
A lot of things are bound to happen in the series but HBO managed to summarise the plot in one sentence.
After a global pandemic destroys civilization, a hardened survivor takes charge of a 14-year-old girl who may be humanity’s last hope.
As Hollywood Reporter wrote when the series was announced, it will cover the events of the original game, which was written by Druckmann, with the possibility of additional content based on the forthcoming game sequel.
HBO released a statement describing The Last of Us:
Based on the critically acclaimed video game The Last of Us, developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation platforms, the story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
The Last of Us Set in Winter
In the storyline of the original game, one of the major plot points was when Joel was injured during the Winter, which led to the player controlling Ellie’s character for the first time.
When when see the Joel and Ellie walking through the snow-covered grounds in the first look of the series, however, it appears that Joel does not have any apparent injuries. If this is HBO’s way of sneakily telling us that they are taking this important plot point out of the series, it can drastically change the entire story of The Last of Us series.
The Last of Us Series Trailer: Is There a Trailer for The Last of Us Series?
The official trailer for the series came out on December 4, 2022, a few weeks before the series' pilot episode officially came out on HBO. The trailer features important snippets of the series, showcasing the dystopian landscape that fans of the game know so well.
First 20-Second Trailer
HBO Max released a video teasing the shows that will soon be premiering on the streaming site. The video shows our first 20-second glimpse of The Last of Us.
The Last of Us Official Teaser
HBO released the official teaser for the series on September 2022. In it, we get to see the onset of the events, before the Infected took over.
Where to Watch The Last of Us Series: Where Can I Watch The Last of Us Series?
You can watch The Last of Us on HBO once the series is released. You can watch other movies and show while waiting for the series to come out, like Umbrella Academy, The Warrior Nun, The Witcher, and The Sandman.
The Last of Us was an award-winning game with visuals, gameplay, and a storyline that was practically screaming for a live-action adaptation. All that is left to do is to wait for the series to come out, but we trust that it will go beyond what we expect of it.