HBO Max has released the first teaser for its upcoming adaption of the post-apocalyptic video game The Last of Us.
Created by co-showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the series is based on the best-selling Playstation game, which sold 17 million copies in 2018. The Last of Us stars Game of Thrones alums Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, alongside a cast that includes Gabriel Luna (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Nick Offerman, Nico Parker, Anna Torv (Fringe), Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Storm Reid, Graham Greene, and more.
According to an official synopsis: “The series takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, 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 and Sony Pictures TV produced the series with PlayStation Productions, Word Games and The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog. Mazin and Druckmann are set to executive produce with along with Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan and Rose Lam.
Shaun Escayg, a creative director for the Last of Us video game, spoke recently with Entertainment Weekly about the HBO adaption.
“The theme of, do the ends justify the means? This exploration of both the beauty and darkness of unconditional love,” Escayg explained. “It was groundbreaking. It was almost like this feeling of lightning in a bottle.”
Escayg added, “This story is crossing mediums and expanding, and potentially reaching a larger audience that will draw, in turn, more and more fans to the franchise,” he says. “And for us, it’s getting to relive it.”
Watch the trailer for The Last of Us up top.