Sounds like cameras are set to start rolling shortly on the highly anticipated adaptation of The Last of Us HBO show.
Collider reports that the series will begin filming in July in Calgary, Canada. It also notes that this will be a long one, with production scheduled to run from July 5, 2021 all the way to June 8, 2022.
Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin is set to write and executive produce alongside The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann, with the series pilot to be directed by Beanpole director Kantemir Balagov. The series is set to star The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal as Joel and Game of Thrones' Bella Ramsey as Ellie. Pascal signing onto the project also came with what's called a "first position deal," meaning his commitment to The Last of Us takes precedence over any of his other projects (The Mandalorian included). Fans shouldn't take that as a reason to stress, though. This was all likely worked out with Disney and LucasFilm well in advance.
It bears mentioning that Druckmann noted that there are areas where the HBO series will vary greatly from the original games.
"Things sometimes stay pretty close. It's funny to see my dialogue there from the games in HBO scripts," Druckmann said. "And sometimes they deviate greatly to much better effect because we are dealing with a different medium.
"Some of my favorite episodes so far have deviated greatly from the story, and I can't wait for people to see them," he added.
"For example, in the game, there's so much action you have to have to train the player about mechanics. You have to have more violence and more spectacle to some degree than you would need on a TV show because you don't need to train people on how to use a gun. So that's something that's been really different, and HBO's been great in pushing us to move away from hardcore action and focus more on the drama of the character."
Need a dose of The Last of Us right away? Check out this fan edit with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey cut into in-game cutscenes.
