HBO has revealed the first official footage from its upcoming television adaptation of the hit PlayStation game The Last of Us.
A new HBO Max sizzle reel highlights some of the content coming to the streaming platform, such as new seasons of shows like The White Lotus, His Dark Materials and Doom Patrol, as well as whole new series like The Idol and The White House Plumbers. The sizzle reel's ender is the first footage from the HBO original series The Last of Us, featuring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as video game characters Joel and Ellie, respectively.
The Last of Us Is Coming to Live-Action
Developed by Naughty Dog (Crash Bandicoot, Uncharted) and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, The Last of Us originally released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 in June 2013. Upon its launch, the game was a massive critical and commercial success. The Last of Us takes place in the aftermath of a devastating outbreak of a mutant Cordyceps fungus. In it, players take control of a smuggler named Joel, who must escort a teenage girl named Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States.
An updated version of the game, The Last of Us Remastered, was released on the PlayStation 4 in July 2014. Naughty Dog returned to develop a sequel, The Last of Us Part II, which itself hit the PS4 in June 2020. A remake of the first game, retroactively titled The Last of Us Part I, will release on the PlayStation 5 in less than two weeks on Friday, Sept. 2, with a PC release also planned.
A feature film adaptation of The Last of Us was confirmed to be in early development in 2014, though the project ultimately went unproduced. In March 2020, HBO announced that it was developing a television adaptation of The Last of Us, with Neil Druckmann -- who wrote and directed both games -- attached to write and produce alongside Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin. The series entered production in July 2021, with Season 1 wrapping in June 2022.
In addition to Pascal and Ramsey as Joel and Ellie, HBO's The Last of Us stars Gabriel Luna as Tommy. The show's recurring cast includes Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Anna Torv as Tess and Merle Dandridge, who reprises her role as Marlene from the video games. Other cast members include Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Lamar Johnson and more. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson -- who played Joel and Ellie, respectively, in the video games -- are also expected to appear in undisclosed roles.
HBO's The Last of Us is expected to premiere in 2023.
Source: YouTube