The Last Of Us, one of Naughty Dog's post-apocalyptic survival horror video games that has been all the rage worldwide, is going to be adapted into a TV series by HBO. The cast was an important factor and the arrival of The Mandalorian actor Pedro Pascal as Joel has fascinated the geek community.
The series has already been billed as the largest television production in Canadian history, as it was filmed in Calgary, Alberta from July 2021 to June of this year. HBO teamed up with Sony Pictures and PlayStation to create the first series to be produced by a video game production company.
The first season will feature ten episodes, written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann (who wrote and directed the game), in which the story of the first installment of the game will be illustrated. Kantemir Balagov will be responsible for directing the pilot. Check out everything you need to know.
'The Last of Us' cast
Pedro Pascal, the actor from the Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, will be playing the male lead character, Joel. According to a report, Pascal earns around $600,000 per episode, making him one of the highest paid stars. His character is tasked with smuggling a girl, Ellie, out of a quarantine zone and across the United States.
Bella Ramsey will play Ellie, the main female character. The Game of Thrones actress will play the 14-year-old girl who is immune to the Cordyceps brain infection and may be the key to create a vaccine. During an interview, she assured that she feels that the show is the greatest thing she has done so far.
Gabriel Luna will play Tommy, Joel's younger brother and a former soldier who remains idealistic in his hope for a better world. According to the actor, the show's executives asked him to do the casting and instantly knew he was right for the role. The actor was even given a PlaySatition 5 during production to play the games as a research method.
On the other hand, Merle Dandridge will be Marlene, the head of the Fireflies. Jeffrey Pierce will be Perry, a rebel in a quarantine zone and Anna Torv will appear as Tess, a survivor who is Joel's smuggling partner.
Nico Parker (Sarah), Murray Bartlett (Frank), Nick Offerman (Bill), Lamar Johnson (Henry), Keivonn Woodard (Sam), Storm Reid (Riley Abel), Graham Greene (Marlon), Elaine Miles (Florence), Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson will also be part of the cast, although the latter two have not yet revealed their roles.
'The Last of Us' release date
Filming wrapped in June 2022 and the first episodes will arrive on the HBO Max platform on January 15, 2023. Craig Mazin, confessed that the series is avoiding episodic stories, such as random encounters that are not in the original plot, so that takes more time in terms of production.
The content that was removed in the game will be present in the show and, according to Druckmann, will include a moment that "blew the minds" of all those who have played the game and know the events. The series will have a total of 10 episodes that will be released on a weekly basis, a format that many other productions have already adapted.
The premiere red carpet will take place on Monday the 9th at 5:30 PM PT in Westwood, California. While the world premiere will be at 6 PM PT (fans can get free tickets through 1iota.com). One of the latest details to be revealed was the total length of the first episode, which will be 85 minutes, meaning that we will have 1 hour and 25 minutes of material to enjoy.
'The Last of Us' plot
According to what is seen in the game, during September 2013 a pandemic arrives in the United States, caused by a strain of the Cordyceps fungus, which when infecting humans turns them into cannibals.
Joel, his daughter Sarah and brother Tommy leave their home in Austin, Texas to avoid the infection at all costs, but they don't get very far. On the way they are intercepted by an officer who kills Sarah believing she is infected, that's where the main plot begins.
According to the official IMDb description, Joel and Ellie, a pair connected through the harshness of the world they live in, are forced to endure brutal circumstances and ruthless killers on a trek across post-pandemic America.
The series' story, according to its official synopsis, "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 begins as a small job soon turns into a brutal and harrowing journey, as the two must cross the United States and depend on each other for survival".
