Confirmation of the premiere comes just days after HBO prematurely let the date slip on the show’s page on HBO Max. HBO formally announced the live-action adaptation in early 2020 with Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann at the helm. Carolyn Strauss (Chernobyl and Game of Thrones) will also serve as executive producer, along with Evan Wells from Naughty Dog. It is based on Naughty Dog’s hit video game franchise by the same name, the first entry of which landed in 2013 for the PlayStation 3 before being ported to the PS4 the following year. The show takes place 20 years after the destruction of modern civilization and is centered on a survivor named Joel that has been hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What follows is a brutal and heartbreaking journey across the country that sees each depend on the other for survival. The Last of Us features Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Other notable roles include Nick Offerman as Bill, Storm Reid as Riley, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry and Murray Bartlett as Frank. Joel’s daughter Sarah is played by Nico Parker. The award-winning game received an expansion pack in 2014 called Left Behind. A proper sequel dropped in 2020 titled The Last of Us Part II, which was set five years after the events of the original game. This past September, Naughty Dog released a remake of the first game for PlayStation 5 called The Last of Us Part I. A PC port of the remake is due out at some point but we do not yet have a launch date for it.
