Critics are raving over HBO’s The Last of Us series starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.
The first reviews for The Last of Us are in, giving audiences an idea of what to expect from the upcoming live-action adaptation of the popular Naughty Dog video game series. The Last of Us is currently sitting at 100 percent on the review aggregation platform Rotten Tomatoes, based on the opinion of 27 critics. HBO couldn’t ask for a better result after ahead of the show’s debut.
The first episode of The Last of Us airs this Sunday on HBO. The episode clocks in at 85 minutes, making it one of the longest HBO premieres to date. In comparison, HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon had a 66-minute premiere back in August 2022.
Developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, The Last of Us centers on the relationship between a smuggler named Joel and 14-year-old Ellie, the latter of whom may be the key to curing the deadly pandemic that resulted in the post-apocalypse world of the game. Hired to smuggle Ellie out of a quarantine zone, Joel finds himself relying on the teenage girl just as much as she relies on him as they fight to survive on their journey across the United States.
The HBO adaptation of The Last Of Us is expected to cover the events of the first game, with the second game potentially surviving as the basis for additional content. The upcoming series is said to be one of the most expensive ever made, with each episode said to cost roughly $10 million with a total budget of around $200 million. In comparison, HBO’s Game of Thrones had a budget of $15 million per episode for its final season.
Who else is attached to the Last of Us series?
The Last of Us adaptation is being developed by Craig Mazin, the man behind HBO’s critically-acclaimed miniseries Chernobyl, as well as Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of the Naughty Dog game. Its cast also includes Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandridge, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Storm Reid, Jeffrey Pierce, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, Elaine Miles, Melanie Lynskey, Rutina Wesley and Brad Leland.
Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who played Joel and Ellie in the two Last of Us games, are also set to appear in the HBO adaptation, playing original characters. Baker is playing a character named James, who is described as “a senior member of a group of settlers,” while Johnson is on board as a pregnant woman known as Anna.
HBO’s The Last of Us premieres on January 15, 2023. Stay tuned for all the latest news surrounding the series and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content.
