The Last of Us is getting a second season at HBO.
HBO has officially announced that it has renewed its live-action adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us video game series. The adaptation is returning for a second season at the network, with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey reprising their roles as Joel Miller and Ellie Williams.
“I’m humbled, honored, and frankly overwhelmed that so many people have tuned in and connected with our retelling of Joel and Ellie’s journey,” said executive producer Neil Druckmann, who co-created the Last of Us games. “The collaboration with Craig Mazin, our incredible cast and crew, and HBO exceeded my already high expectations. Now we have the absolute pleasure of being able to do it again with season two!”
The Last of Us executive producer Craig Mazin added the following: “I’m so grateful to Neil Druckmann and HBO for our partnership, and I’m even more grateful to the millions of people who have joined us on this journey. The audience has given us the chance to continue, and as a fan of the characters and world Neil and Naughty Dog created, I couldn’t be more ready to dive back in.”
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 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 is attached to the Last of Us series?
The Last of Us adaptation was 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 Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, 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 Ellie’s mother Anna.
The Last of Us airs on Sunday nights on HBO. Stay tuned for all the latest news surrounding the series and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content.