By Seventeen years ago in March 2020, HBO stated its intention of creating a TV series based on the mega-popular Sony franchise The Last of Us. One of the best selling games across Sony’s PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 consoles, it made sense as an adaptation. People are hungry for this dystopian world, so why not make a series around it? HBO agreed since it has now given a full series order to the idea.
In a press release today, executive VP of programming Francesca Orsi announced the project and confirmed that Chernobyl scribe Craig Mazin and developer Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann will be executive producing the series alongside HBO’s Carolyn Strauss. Mazin and Druckmann will also write the series with production being handled by HBO and Sony Pictures Television.
“Craig and Neil are visionaries in a league of their own,” Orsi stated. “With them at the helm alongside the incomparable Carolyn Strauss, this series is sure to resonate with both die-hard fans of The Last of Us games and newcomers to this genre-defining saga. We’re delighted to partner with Naughty Dog, Word Games, Sony and PlayStation to adapt this epic, powerfully immersive story.”
Also serving as executive producers will be Evan Wells from Naughty Dog along with Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan of PlayStation Productions. Jeff Frost, president of Sony Pictures Television Studios, along with Qizilbash added, “We’re thrilled to be working with HBO and this fantastic creative team to bring The Last of Us series to life. PlayStation’s innovative storytelling and ingenuity is a natural complement to SPT’s creative focus…We look forward to developing even more iconic game IP in the future.”
As for which title the series will adapt, it seems to be taking things back to the 2013 original. No plot synopsis was offered, but starting from the beginning makes the most logical sense. Since a description mentions both Joel and Ellie as main characters, that also fits in with the setting of the PS3 debut.
When the show does debut, it will be available on both HBO and HBO Max.
Source: HBO
