HBO Drops First Look at Pedro Pascal in The Last of Us Adaptation

HBO gave its first peek at its upcoming series, The Last of Us, showcasing snippets of Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in the lead roles as Joel and Ellie.

The footage came before the premiere of the Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon as part of HBO showcasing its upcoming programming. The Last of Us is based on the video game series of the same name, which Naughty Dog developed for Sony’s PlayStation consoles.

The teaser was short but showed Pascal as Joel and Ramsey as Ellie crossing a snowy bridge. Both characters speak briefly, but the trailer mainly consisted of a few short action sequences.

Video Credit: HBO Max

The official synopsis for the show says it takes place two decades after the destruction of modern civilization. Joel (Pascal) is a hardened survivor who smuggles 14-year-old Ellie (Ramsey) 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
–HBO

Furthermore, the cast will include Gabriel Luna as Joel’s younger brother Tommy; Merle Dandrige as resistant leader Marlene; and Anna Trov as a smuggler and fellow survivor Tess. Dandrige played the same role in the video games.

Guest stars will include Nico Parker as Joel’s 14-year-old daughter Sarah, Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman as survivalists Frank and Bill, Storm Reid as Boston orphan Riley, and Jeffrey pierce as a rebel in the quarantine zone named Perry. Pierce also provided voice acting in the video game series but as Tommy.

HBO is working in co-production with Sony Pictures Television while PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog are all producing. Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin are co-creators, executive producers, writers and directors, alongside a slew of other writers and directors.

There is no release date yet for The Last of Us, but it is slated to come to HBO Max upon release.

It’s always a mixture of excitement and hesitation when it comes to video game series making the jump to TV or movies. The Last of Us definitely has the firepower behind it as Pascal is a big draw thanks to The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones, and Wonder Woman 1984.
Furthermore, we’ve seen what HBO can do when it puts the time into its programming but the recent turmoil surrounding HBO Max could play a factor into production. Time will tell how this one turns out but, in my opinion, TV series are the way to go when attempting to adapt video games.

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