Get ready for a grim and gritty winter, because the anticipated The Last of Us HBO series has locked down a January release date. This was confirmed on Twitter by Naughty Dog, who also shared a new promotional poster. The image mostly focuses on The Last of Us logo, which has been overtaken with a slimy-looking fungus, but we also get a bit of a hint of the series’ post-apocalyptic world.
You have no idea what loss is. #TheLastofUs premieres January 15 on @HBO @hbomax #TLOU pic.twitter.com/qzxNH09vvK
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) November 2, 2022
January has traditionally been when studios dump projects they don’t have a lot of confidence in, but that’s changing, and doesn’t apply as much to TV, so hopefully there’s no reason to worry about The Last of Us. The Last of Us HBO series is being headed up by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and was shot in Alberta, Canada. The show stars Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsay as Ellie. Here’s the series’ official description…
“The Last of Us series takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.
Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Wonder Woman 1984) and Bella Ramsey (HBO’s His Dark Materials and Game of Thrones) will star as Joel and Ellie. Also joining the cast are Gabriel Luna (True Detective) as Joel’s younger brother Tommy, Merle Dandridge (The Last of Us video games, The Flight Attendant) as resistance leader Marlene; and Anna Torv (Fringe) as Tess, a smuggler and fellow hardened survivor.
The series will guest star Nico Parker (The Third Day) as Sarah, Joel’s 14-year old daughter; Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) and Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation) as Frank and Bill, two post-pandemic survivalists living alone in their own isolated town; Storm Reid (Euphoria) as Riley, an orphan in Boston; and Jeffrey Pierce (The Last of Us video games) as Perry, a rebel in a quarantine zone. Lamar Johnson guest stars as Henry and Keivonn Woodard as Sam, brothers in Kansas City hiding from a revolutionary movement seeking vengeance. Graham Greene guest stars as Marlon and Elaine Miles as Florence, a married couple surviving alone in the wilderness of post-apocalyptic Wyoming.”
The Last of Us series will be available via HBO and HBO Max on January 15. A remake of the game the series is based on, The Last of Us Part I, is available on PS5.
