The whispered warning triggers the dramatic survival story at the heart of “The Last of Us,” the HBO series adaptation of the acclaimed video game franchise of the same name. “The Mandalorian” star Pedro Pascal leads the Western-inspired series opposite “Catherine Called Birdy” and “Game of Thrones” breakout Bella Ramsey as two survivors of the apocalypse. Joel (Pascal) is tasked with smuggling tween Ellie (Ramsey) out of a quarantine zone to safety across the U.S. in hopes for a cure for the zombie-like plague. Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, and Melanie Lynskey also star in “The Last of Us,” with showrunner Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”) likening the epic series to “Lawrence of Arabia.” Lynskey’s casting was a shocking reveal in the teaser, with the “Yellowjackets” actress tweeting, “Surprise! (Also WOW how beautiful and scary does this show look).”
The teaser for the 2023 series was released on September 26, in honor of “The Last of Us” official Outbreak Day in the video game, marking the first case of the infectious (fictional) virus, the cordyceps fungus.
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The ensemble cast also includes Gabriel Luna, Merle Dandridge, Nico Parker, Jeffrey Pierce, and Anna Torv. The original Joel and Ellie voice actors from the video game, Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson respectively, are set to appear in the series in undisclosed roles.
HBO previously released footage of the series, showing Pascal as Joel telling Ramsey’s Ellie that she has “no idea what loss is.”
“There’s a very, very creative way of honoring what’s important and also preserving what is iconic to the experience of the video game, and also things that you wouldn’t necessarily expect,” Pascal said recently of the series. “And then directions that you would expect it to go, and it might not… they’re doing some really smart things, is all I can say.”
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The series is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television, and PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint and Naughty Dog produce.
For all the details on the upcoming series, click here.
“The Last of Us” premieres on HBO in 2023. Check out the first trailer below.
