Michael A. Appel 
HBO’s television series based on the popular video game The last of us is a colossal undertaking. We learned last July that the first season of the series would be filmed in Alberta, Canada for twelve consecutive months (after six months of preparation)… and seven months later, the series is indeed still in production. If you were hoping they would have the first batch of episodes ready to air by the end of 2022, we have some disappointing news to share today: HBO and HBO Max Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys said Deadline
It will not air in 2022. They are still filming in Canada. I imagine you’ll see it in ’23. I’ve seen a few first episodes and I’m very excited. Craig (Mazin) did Chernobyl for us, he’s a fantastic writer and director. What I’ve seen looks amazing, so I’m excited for it, but it won’t be in 22.”
The series’ screenwriter, Craig Mazin, is also one of the series’ directors, as is Kantemir Balagov (Bean), Jasmila Zbanic (Quo vadis, Aida), Peter Hoar (Doctor Who)Jeremy Webb (The Punisher), Lisa Johnson (What we do in the shadows), and the game’s creative director Neil Druckmann.
the The last of us video game history is set
Years after a fungal plague wiped out much of humanity, turning most into vicious zombie-like monsters, the story follows Joel, who lives in a militarized quarantine zone. He has a close relationship with Tess, who operates in that community’s black market. Together they became known to the local underworld for their cruelty. On a mission to recover their stolen weapons, they encounter the leader of the Fireflies, a resistance group, who tasks them with smuggling a young girl named Ellie out of the area. This mission soon becomes much more than what they were prepared for.
The cast of HBO The last of us features Pedro Pascal as Joel, who is “tormented by past trauma and failures. He must travel through an America ravaged by the pandemic, while protecting a girl who represents the last hope of humanity”; Bella Ramsey as Ellie, “a 14-year-old orphan who has never known anything but a ravaged planet and struggles to balance her instincts for anger and defiance with her need for connection and belonging…as well as the new reality that it may be the key to saving the world”; Anna Torv as Tess, “a hardened smuggler and survivor in a post-pandemic world”; Gabriel Luna as Joel’s brother, Tommy, “a former soldier who hasn’t lost his sense of idealism and hope for a better world”; Merle Dandridge as Marlene, “the leader of the Fireflies, a resistance movement fighting for freedom against an oppressive military regime”; Nico Parker as Sarah, Joel’s daughter; Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, “a rebel in a quarantine zone”; Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett as Bill and Frank, “two post-pandemic survivors living alone in their own remote town”; and Storm Reid as Ellie’s best friend, Riley.
The last of us is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint and game developer Naughty Dog. Druckmann serves as executive producer alongside Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells of Naughty Dog, Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan of PlayStation Productions and Mazin.
Each episode of the show has a budget that is well over eight figures.
