HBO has officially renewed the PlayStation video game adaptation series The Last of Us for season 2. The apocalyptic drama stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in the lead roles. According to Deadline, The Last of Us this month scored the second-largest premiere after House of the Dragon since Boardwalk Empire’s launch in 2010. Episode 1 has surpassed 22 million viewers domestically, up nearly five times from its premiere-night audience on January 15. Episode 2 got 5.7 million viewers across HBO Max and other channels in the U.S. Sunday night.
As per the report, the stellar numbers mark the largest Week 2 audience growth for any HBO Original drama series. “I’m humbled, honored, and frankly overwhelmed that so many people have tuned in and connected with our retelling of Joel and Ellie’s journey,” said executive producer Neil Druckmann who was also the writer and creative director of the game.
He added, “The collaboration with Craig Mazin, our incredible cast & crew, and HBO exceeded my already high expectations. Now we have the absolute pleasure of being able to do it again with season two! On behalf of everyone at Naughty Dog & PlayStation, thank you!” As the official logline reads, the series “takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone.”
“What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival,” the logline continues. Executive producer and showrunner Craig Mazin also commented, “I’m so grateful to Neil Druckmann and HBO for our partnership, and I’m even more grateful to the millions of people who have joined us on this journey. The audience has given us the chance to continue, and as a fan of the characters and world Neil and Naughty Dog created, I couldn’t be more ready to dive back in.”
Besides Pascal and Ramsey, Season 1 also features Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, Elaine Miles, Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker. Based on Naughty Dog’s award-winning video game, The Last of Us is written and executive produced by Mazin and Druckmann.
