The Last of Us (2023)

Production: Timeline, news & updates

• 2016
  • After the release of The Last of Us video game, great interest was generated in adapting it into a movie. At one point, Sam Raimi was attached to the project but the film languished in development hell and was never to be. (Source: IGN)
• March 2020
  • HBO announced a television adaption of the video game that would cover the events of the game and possibly some of the events of the sequel (2020’s The Last of Us Part II). Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin joined the project to write and produce the series. (Source: Variety.)
• November 2020
  • The series is greenlit with Playstation’s Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan signed on as executive producers. Johan Renick, a previous collaborator of Mazin’s on HBO’s Chernobyl miniseries, drops out of the project due to the COVID pandemic. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
• August 2021
  • Production of the series will take place in Alberta, Canada and will be the largest Canadian television production in the country’s history. It is expected to bring in over 200 million dollars in revenue for the province. (Source: Guild of Canada)
• March 2020
  • Argentine composer Gustavo Sanataolalla will produce the series’ music. Sanataolalla previously composed music for Jane the Virgin and Making a Murderer.(Source: EFE)
• June 9, 2022
  • Writer Craig Mazin took to twitter to announce the fact that filming of the series had finished. (Source: Collider)
• June 92022
  • The first-look photo of the series is released. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey – who play Joel and and Ellie – are seen crouched down in a dark room, helping to set an ominous tone for upcoming show. ( Source: Entertainment Weekly)
• July 12, 2022
  • HBO executive Casey Bloys reveals The Last of Us will premiere in early 2023. Source: Entertainment Weekly)
• August 5, 2022
  • Set photos were released showing the incredible accuracy with which the filming team were recreating scenes from the video game. (Source: ScreenRant)
• August 10, 2022
  • The back story of key characters from the video game has been changed with brothers Henry and Sam set to enter the story at a completely different point in the narrative of the video game. (Source: ScreenRant)
• August 21, 2022
  • In a trailer for all upcoming HBO Max TV shows, the first footage from The Last of Us was revealed. Showing snowy scenes with the gruff voice of Pedro Pascal, the trailer confirms the show will arrive in 2023.(Source: Deadline)
• November 2, 2022
  • The series will be released in January 2023. Filmmaker Kantemir Balagov left the production of The Last of Us in 2021. (Source: The Playlist)
• December 4, 2022
  • The first official trailer for the series was released at the CCXP22 panel. It gives a first full look at the tone and style of the show as well as introducing the smuggler Joel and his cargo, the teenage Ellie. (Source: Collider)
• January 6, 2022
  • It is confirmed that The Last of Us will release three days early in cinemas across New York before premiering on HBO Max. A new featurette is released in tandem with the news that teases a difficult moment for main character Joel played by Pedro Pascal. (Source: ScreenRant)
• January 15, 2023
  • The Last of Us was released on HBO Max. (Source: HBO Max)