Pedro Pascal as Joel, a hardened middle-aged survivor who is tormented by the trauma of his past.Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey portray the lead characters, Joel and Ellie. In January 2023, the series was renewed for a second season. Across linear channels and HBO Max, the series premiere was watched by 4.7 million viewers on the first day-the second-biggest for HBO since 2010-and almost 40 million within two months by March, the first six episodes averaged over 30 million viewers. It received acclaim from critics, who praised the performances, writing, production design, and score several called it the best adaptation of a video game. The Last of Us premiered on January 15, 2023. The score was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla, who composed for the game, and David Fleming.

Druckmann, who wrote and co-directed the original game, assisted Mazin with scriptwriting for the nine episodes of the first season. It is the first HBO series based on a video game, and is a joint production by Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Naughty Dog, the Mighty Mint, and Word Games. The Last of Us was filmed throughout Alberta from July 2021 to June 2022. Guest stars include Nico Parker as Joel's daughter Sarah, Merle Dandridge as resistance leader Marlene, Anna Torv as Joel's partner Tess, Gabriel Luna as Joel's brother Tommy, Lamar Johnson and Keivonn Montreal Woodard as brothers Henry and Sam, and Melanie Lynskey and Jeffrey Pierce as resistance leader Kathleen and her second-in-command Perry. The series follows Joel ( Pedro Pascal), a smuggler tasked with escorting the immune teenager Ellie ( Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic United States. Based on the 2013 video game developed by Naughty Dog, the series is set in 2023, twenty years into a pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection, which causes its hosts to transform into zombie-like creatures and collapses society. The Last of Us is an American post-apocalyptic drama television series created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann for HBO.

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