Highlights
- The highly anticipated season 2 of The Last of Us will not be released until 2025, as production is set to start in 2024.
- The delay in production is due to the recent Hollywood strike, which affected the filming schedule of many projects.
- Despite the wait, fans can trust that the series is taking the time to get it right, as season 2 will have to live up to the heartwrenching episodes of the first season.
The Last of Us fans have been waiting months for an update on season 2, but recent news may be more disappointing than cause for celebration.
The Last of Us is set in a world scarily close to reality, where the last dregs of humanity fight against people infected with the Cordyceps fungus. In this dark world, traumatized curmudgeon Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal) reluctantly accepts the task of escorting young Ellie (Bella Ramsey) to a cell of terrorists who want to use her in an attempt to save the world. Throughout their travels, Joel becomes so protective over her that they become a found family. Pascal has been celebrated after taking over the reins from video game Joel, Troy Baker, while Ramsey has blown audiences away as Ellie.
What The Last of Us Can Teach Other Video Game Adaptations
HBO's The Last of Us series proved to everyone that video game adaptations can work, if they're done right.
After the nine-episode season ended in March, fans are getting an update, for better or worse. Per Variety, The Last of Us season 2 will go into production soon. Unfortunately, the series will not film until 2024, pushing its premiere date further away. The Last of Us was not on HBO's 2024 slate presentation, meaning season 2 likely won't be released until 2025, at the earliest.
One of the biggest holdups has been the dual Hollywood strike that delayed filming for many projects until the writers' strike ended, including Daredevil: Born Again and The Penguin series. In May 2023, the Writers Guild of America was the first to start picketing due to a lack of residuals. The Screen Actors Guild wasn’t far behind, suggesting that video game companies could follow. Though the WGA has since resolved the strike and can work on scripts, as of this writing, SAG-AFTRA is still in negotiations. Many actors are concerned with the state of AI in the industry that could replace actors and not compensate them accordingly.
While showrunner Craig Mazin has been vocal about writing now that he is legally allowed, the show cannot move forward without its actors. Setting a production start date in early 2024 is optimistic. Hopefully, the studios will respect the actors enough to compensate them fairly so everyone can return to work. But even if production does go into effect early next year, fans still may not expect to see season 2 for a long time. The first season took a year to complete, and for good reason. The Last of Us season 1 contains some of the most heartwrenching episodes that would be hard for The Last of Us season 2 to top. If the series has to take time to get it right, it is probably the best decision.
The Last of Us season 1 is streaming on Max.
The Last Of Us
Based on Naughty Dog's popular PlayStation game, HBO's The Last of Us takes place decades after a fungal infection eradicated most of humanity. When a teenage girl named Ellie is found to be immune to the disease, Joel agrees to smuggle her across the United States.
- Release Date
- January 15, 2023
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Creator
- Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann
- Network
- HBO Max
Source: Variety
