Movies based on video games don’t have the best track record, but TV shows based on video games still have a relatively clean slate.
There’s an endless number of video game adaptations coming down the pipe, including big-name projects like Amazon’s Fallout series and Paramount’s Knuckles TV show. Though none may be more anticipated than HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us.
HBO announced its The Last of Us project ages ago and the show has been picking up steam as it continues filming in Canada. While details are still pretty thin on the ground, here’s everything we do know about the series so far.
Who’s involved?
The Last of Us and The Last of Us 2 are beloved games, so meddling with them in any way would be quite a risk for HBO. However, there are a few positive signs that this adaptation is set to be a good one.
For starters, The Last of Us game director and Naughty Dog co-president, Neil Druckmann, is onboard as an executive producer. There’s pretty much no one else in the world who knows The Last of Us games like Druckmann, so it’s in safe hands there.
He’s also working with a long-time fan of the games and award-winning Chernobyl writer, Craig Mazin, who we know can write a damn good TV show.
The series has hired relatively unknown directors so far. Kantemir Balagov (Beanpole) is helming the pilot episode and Jasmila Zbanic (Quo Vadis, Aida) and Ali Abbasi (Border) also taking episodes in the series. Liza Johnson (What We Do In The Shadows), Peter Hoar (Daredevil) and Jeremy Webb (The Umbrella Academy) will also reportedly helm episodes as will Druckmann.
Gustavo Santaolalla, who gave us The Last of Us’ excellent soundtrack, will also be back to compose music for the show.
HBO itself has a strong track record of producing high-quality genre shows, including Game of Thrones, Westworld and Watchmen. Here’s hoping the studio’s breadth of experience follows through here.
Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions are also on board behind the scenes.
Will the TV show be different to the games?
Many fans can attest to the fact that The Last of Us games are already very cinematic, in terms of acting, narrative and visuals. So, translating this into a TV show shouldn’t be that hard, right?
This is the plot synopsis according to the HBO announcement:
The story takes place twenty years after modern civilisation 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 across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
That sure does sound like The Last of Us.
The announcement also notes that the series will “cover the events of the original game” with the “possibility of additional content” based on The Last of Us 2.
Neil Druckmann revealed in an interview with IGN that the first season of the show will cover the events of the first game.
Druckmann said things in the show will stick pretty closely to the game for the most part. However, some things will differ greatly due to the differences between mediums.
“Some of my favourite episodes so far have deviated greatly from the story, and I can’t wait for people to see them,” he said. Whether the audience agrees will be a different question.
Should there be another season of The Last of Us we can assume that will take us into the events of Part II. Given there’s a five-year time gap between games that leaves plenty of room to expand upon those lost years in the TV show.
The first official image from the show was released on The Last of Us day in 2021 and, as you can see, things are looking pretty accurate.
Look for the light @HBO #TLOUDay pic.twitter.com/fl5ZCP7MG7
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) September 27, 2021
HBO also released the first official image from the show at Summer Games Fest showing Joel and Ellie crouching behind a table hiding (so far, very much like the game). If you look closely in the background you can see the outline of a Clicker.
The Last of Us TV show: Cast
Joel and Ellie are incredibly popular and well-written characters. They were portrayed by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson in both video games, but neither actor will be carrying on their character in the TV show.
Instead, we have Game of Thrones stars Bella Ramsay as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel.
Ramsay seems to be a perfect fit given her breakout performance as Lyanna Mormont in Game of Thrones basically stole the show. She was able to bring both fire and vulnerability to her role and we’re sure to see her take more of that to the role of Ellie.
Pascal has similarly spent plenty of time shepherding a young companion across the galaxy in The Mandalorian so we know he can pull off the reluctant dad role.
We also know that Joel’s brother, Tommy, will be played by Terminator: Dark Fate star Gabriel Luna and Tess will be portrayed by Fringe’s Anna Torv. Nico Parker is playing Sarah, Joel’s daughter.
Nick Offerman is playing jaded survivor Bill while Murray Bartlett guest stars as his partner Frank, who we never actually met during the events of the game.
It was also recently announced that Storm Reid (Euphoria) will play Ellie’s best friend Riley, which means we should see the events of Left Behind covered in the show as well.
Some actors from the games have also managed to make the jump to The Last of Us on HBO.
Jeffrey Pierce, who’s known as Tommy in the games, will simply play a “rebel in a quarantine zone”. Meanwhile, Merle Dandridge is reprising her role as Marlene, aka the leader of the Fireflies.
At Summer Games Fest we also learned that voice stars of the games, Troy Baker (Joel) and Ashley Johnson (Ellie), will have “significant” roles in the upcoming series. Very cool news indeed.
You can check out some of the first pictures of the cast on set thanks to @HBOsTheLastofUs.
New exclusive photos of Bella Ramsey (Ellie), Pedro Pascal (Joel) and Anna Torv (Tess) on the set of The Last of Us in Calgary, AB. pic.twitter.com/Hzt5NTdVrc
— The Last of Us HBO – Status (@HBOsTheLastofUs) October 18, 2021
The Last of Us TV show: release date
Filming for HBO’s The Last of Us is currently taking place in Canada and is expected to last around 12 months. Based on that, expect to be waiting a while longer for that first episode to drop.
No release date has been announced but Bella Ramsay did repost an IMDB article that seemingly confirmed The Last of Us will be released in 2022.
The episode count is expected to be made up of 10 (very expensive) episodes in the first season.
The Last of Us will debut on HBO and HBO Max in the US, but here in Australia we’ll be able to watch it on Binge.
Watch this space for more updates as we get closer to the premiere of The Last of Us TV series.
This article has been updated with additional information.
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