It is no exaggeration to say that The Last of Us series is among the most anticipated coming next year, featuring an estimated budget of $200 million per year. Sony's prized game IP was announced to be adapted for television over two years ago, not long before the release of The Last of Us Part II, and with the remake of the first installment coming soon on PlayStation 5 (a bit later on PC), the hype for the TV series is only growing.
Thankfully, HBO Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys delivered some good news for fans in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where he said that The Last of Us will begin airing on HBO in early 2023.
That means we'll be able to watch the retelling of Ellie and Joel's acclaimed story in a little over six months or so, barring any unforeseen delays. As a reminder, though, The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann (who is writing the adaptation alongside Chernobyl's Craig Mazin) explained that the story might deviate greatly in certain aspects.
Things sometimes stay pretty close. It’s funny to see my dialogue there from the games in HBO scripts. And sometimes they deviate greatly to much better effect because we are dealing with a different medium.
For example, in the game, there’s so much action you have to have to train the player about mechanics. You have to have more violence and more spectacle to some degree than you would need on a TV show because you don’t need to train people on how to use a gun. So that’s something that’s been really different, and HBO’s been great in pushing us to move away from hardcore action and focus more on the drama of the character. Some of my favorite episodes so far have deviated greatly from the story, and I can’t wait for people to see them.
The cast of HBO's The Last of Us includes many renowned actors, such as:
Pedro Pascal as JoelBella Ramsey as EllieGabriel Luna as TommyMerle Dandridge as MarleneJeffrey Pierce as PerryAnna Torv as TessStorm Reid as RileyTroy Baker as an unknown characterAshley Johnson as an unknown characterNico Parker as SarahMurray Bartlett as FrankNick Offerman as BillBrad Leland as an unknown characterMurray Bartlett as an unknown characterGustavo Santaolalla is reprising his role as a composer from the game series.