Fans of the video game The Last of Us will have to wait a bit longer to see it as a live-action TV series on HBO.
According to HBO and HBO Max’s Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys, the small-screen adaptation of the PlayStation game will be released “closer to early 2023” instead of later this year as several reports suggested.
Bloys revealed the new release window during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter where the executive chimed in on the network’s recent Emmy Award nominations and what fans can anticipate from future seasons of series like Succession.
The Last of Us is one of the most highly anticipated shows in HBO’s upcoming lineup. The series stars Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) as Joel Miller and Ellie Williams. Joel is a smuggler who is tasked to escort Ellie, a teenage girl, to a safe haven while “zombies” roam free in a post-apocalyptic America.
Although not much more is known about the series, what we do know so far is that the first season will include 10 episodes and has been written by the video game’s original co-creator Neil Druckmann. The series is also executive produced by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl). It was reported earlier that actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who lend their voices to Joel and Ellie in the video game, will appear in the new series in some capacity.
Earlier this summer, HBO got fans excited when they released the first image of The Last of Us. During the SXSW Film Festival in March, Pascal described the experience of shooting the show as “totally harrowing…I don’t know if we’ll make it, but it will be completely worth it [if we don’t].”