The Last of Us is coming to the small screen and will begin production in Calgary on July 5th.
The show based on the popular video game of the same name is being backed by HBO and plans to wrap in just under a year, summer 2022. It is speculated that Alberta Premier, Jason Kenny, was talking about The Last of Us when he mentioned “[It] will be the largest ever, I believe, film or television production in Canadian history.”
The series has already caught some buzz after the roles of Joel and Ellie were announced. The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal and Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey will be taking on the fan favourite roles. Production has brought in a great team with Nick Druckman, who was part of the team on The Last of Us video game, and Craig Mazin, writer of HBOs Chernobyl series, working together on development. The team for the show is looking to be built with the best of the best which bodes well for the series.
The Last of Us is a PlayStation exclusive that originally premiered in June 2013 with its sequel, The Last of Us Part II releasing in June 2020. Shortly before the sequel was released, HBO announced that they were creating a show based on the games, though they still have not revealed a solid release date.
The action-adventure survival horror game follows Ellie and Joel “as they work together to survive their westward journey across what remains of the country to find a possible cure for the modern fungal plague that has nearly decimated the entire human race.” It is set in the post-apocalytic United States, though we don’t know how closely the TV show will follow the original storyline.
Very little has been released about the show, but we do have a synopsis to work with so far, “The story takes place 20 years after modern civilization 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.” With the show beginning production this summer, hopefully more information will be available soon. In the meantime, The Last of Us Part II is available in the PlayStation store for half off until April 15, so catch up on the story while you can!
