The Last of Us, HBO’s series adaptation of the award-winning video game series, now has a first look. On The Last of Us Day — that was Sunday, September 26 — game developer Naughty Dog unveiled a still from HBO’s The Last of Us series (above) that shows the backs of stars Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal. In the distance, we can see the remnants of a crashed plane. The Last of Us is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a pandemic results in the creation of the Infected, who are zombies all but in name. Ramsey plays the young survivor Ellie whose blood could be the cure to the said pandemic, while Pascal is the hardened survivor Joel tasked with smuggling Ellie across the US.
“Look for the light,” Naughty Dog said in its The Last of Us first look tweet at 6pm PT Sunday (whic is 6:30am IST Monday). Sharing the same photo on his Twitter account, Pascal wrote: “‘I got you, baby girl.’ The HBO adaptation of The Last of Us is in production.” Pascal added “Happy birthday Joel” as one of the hashtags. September 26 is not only The Last of Us Day to celebrate the franchise — previously known as Outbreak Day, it’s when the pandemic reached critical mass in the game’s events — but also the in-game birthday of Joel.
In addition to Ramsey and Pascal, HBO’s The Last of Us series adaptation also stars Gabriel Luna (Agents of SHIELD) as former soldier and Joel’s younger brother Tommy, Merle Dandridge (The Last of Us) as resistance movement Fireflies chief Marlene, Jeffrey Pierce (The Last of Us) as a quarantine zone rebel Perry (an original character for the show), Anna Torv (Fringe) as Joel’s smuggler partner Tess, Nico Parker (Dumbo) as Joel’s daughter Sarah, Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) as isolated survivalist Frank, and theatre actor Con O’Neill as Frank’s fellow survivalist Bill.
Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and The Last of Us game director Neil Druckmann are the creators, head writers, and executive producers on HBO’s The Last of Us. Kantemir Balagov (Beanpole) directs the pilot episode, with Druckmann also on directing duties. The Last of Us game composer Gustavo Santaolalla returns for the HBO series. Executive producers on The Last of Us series also include Carolyn Strauss, Rose Lam, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, and Carter Swan. HBO’s The Last of Us is a production of Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Naughty Dog, The Mighty Mint, and Word Games.
The Last of Us is expected to premiere in 2022 on HBO and HBO Max. Production on season 1 began in July and is expected to run until June 2022.