The Last of Us TV adaptation from HBO has received a new director after the exit of Johan Renck due to an apparent scheduling conflict. The TV show will now be helmed by Russian director Kantemir Balagov, who is known for directing the 2019 film Beanpole, which had earned him heaps of accolades at Cannes. This will mark his first TV series, while his only big-ticket project other than Beanpole was the 2017 Russian drama, Closeness, also a Cannes hit.
While Balagov will now serve as the director for the series, Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin will carry on as writer and executive producer. Neil Druckmann, who directed both The Last of Us games will also serve as the co-writer of the show. Interestingly, this series will be based on the storyline of the games themselves, having Ellie and Joel as the lead characters.
The official synopsis reads, “The story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, 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 across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.”
It has, however, been mentioned by Mazin that The Last of Us TV show will introduce characters and events not featured in the games. This points to a possibility of the show being set during the period that transpired between the two games.
The Last of Us was released for the PS3 back in 2013 to much critical acclaim. The following year, it made its way to the PS4 in the form of a remastered version, while 2020 saw the sequel hit store shelves, again, to tremendous acclaim.