It's Happening: The Last of Us HBO Series Officially Ordered

The Last of Us HBO Series is now officially happening after the television giant ordered its first season. HBO parent WarnerMedia confirmed the development in a press release circulated Friday afternoon, ET. This move also confirmed parts of the executive roster already attached to the project. Sony Interactive Entertainment’s own Neil Druckmann, for example, will be one of the series’ executive producers. He’s the creative director behind both games, for the uninitiated.

Druckman will be joined by his Naughty Dog colleague Evan Wells, as well as Carter Swan and Asad Qizilbash from PlayStation Productions. Besides Sony’s own creatives, Carolyn Strauss and Craig Mazin will executive-produce The Last of Us HBO series. Both are known for their work on the network’s critically acclaimed show Chernobyl. Strauss, however, also worked on the television adaptation of the Game of Thrones.

Druckmann and Mazin will have already been tasked with penning the script for the show, HBO said. Sony is unsurprisingly framing the project as a testament to the quality of its interactive storytelling. HBO, for its part, sees the undertaking as a continuation of its diverse content strategy.

Sony’s unsurprisingly framing The Last of Us HBO series as a testament to its interactive storytelling

Based on the limited information from HBO and Sony, the show will be a relatively conventional adaptation. One that sticks to the source material fairly closely. Today’s announcement also confirms Word Games will be the project’s production company. This is the same firm co-produced Chernobyl in association with Sister Pictures, The Mighty Mint, Sky UK, and HBO itself.

So, by all accounts, The Last of Us HBO series is in good hands. In the sense that the risk of it getting stuck in pre-production hell seems fairly low. But that tends to be the effect HBO’s money has on any project. Especially one based on an already world-famous IP. In other words: this thing is getting made one way or the other because there’s just too much money to be made even on a bad adaptation. That’s just pop culture business.

The Last of Us HBO series still lacks an official launch timeframe. One should be announced by the time pre-production is over, however. And given the network’s track record, a mid-2022 debut for this highly anticipated show seems plausible. Whenever it ends up debuting, it will be available via both HBO and HBO Max from day one.