'The Last of Us' renewed for season 2, and gamers know what that means (original) (raw)
We haven't heard the last of The Last of Us.
HBO has officially renewed the post-apocalyptic drama starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey for season 2, the network announced on Friday. Gamers can already guess where things are heading.
Season 1 adapts the main events of 2013's The Last of Us video game. Twenty years after a zombie-like fungal plague has ravaged the globe, Joel (Pascal), a survivor living in a militarized Boston quarantine zone, is tasked by the Fireflies rebel group with smuggling out a young girl, Ellie (Ramsey), to their allies on the outside.
The stakes are raised when Joel learns that his cargo is miraculously immune to the fungal brain infection and may be the key to cracking a vaccine. This unlikely pair is forced to traverse what's left of America, dodging the mutated Infected, as well as human raiders, slavers, and other unfriendly survivors.
Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal in 'The Last of Us'. Liane Hentscher/HBO
Series writers and executive producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann have indicated that they plan to adapt the events of the second video game, 2020's The Last of Us Part II, should the show get more seasons — which now it will.
It's difficult to describe the plot of Part II without spoiling it, so we'll just say there are two major twists that triggered such a strong and immediate reaction from players that Druckmann, who developed both games, received death threats.
"We have no plans to tell any stories beyond adapting the games," Druckmann previously told The Hollywood Reporter. "We won't run into the same issue as Game of Thrones since Part II doesn't end on a cliffhanger."
The Last of Us was watched by 4.7 million viewers across linear TV and HBO Max streaming the night the drama premiered on Jan. 15. By the second day, that number rose to 10 million viewers. By the end of the week, it became 18 million. The premiere episode has now surpassed 22 million viewers domestically, by HBO's estimates.
Ratings for episode 2 started off even stronger. On the night of its debut, The Last of Us tallied 5.7 million viewers, which marked a 22 percent increase from the first episode. That's the largest second-week growth in HBO's history.
Anna Torv and Pedro Pascal as Tess and Joel. Liane Hentscher/HBO
"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," Druckmann said in a statement. "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!"
The original games were developed by studio Naughty Dog and released on PlayStation platforms. PlayStation Productions now helps produce the live-action adaptations of the company's library.
"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," Mazin added. "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."
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