The Last of Us to Get TV Series on HBO

HBO announced on Friday that the company has given a series order for a The Last of Us TV adaptation.

The series is set to be written by Chernobyl executive producer Craig Mazin and The Last of Us’ creative director and writer Neil Druckmann. The series is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television. PlayStation Productions, Word Games, and Naughty Dog helping produce.

“Craig and Neil are visionaries in a league of their own,” said Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President of Programming at HBO. “With them at the helm alongside the incomparable Carolyn Strauss, this series is sure to resonate with both die-hard fans of The Last of Us games and newcomers to this genre-defining saga. We’re delighted to partner with Naughty Dog, Word Games, Sony and PlayStation to adapt this epic, powerfully immersive story.”

The Last of Us takes place 20 years after a fungal infection has decimated Earth’s population. The first game follows the smuggler Joel as he is tasked with getting a teenage girl, Ellie, out of Boston’s quarantine zone and into a safehouse. The job goes south, and Joel and Ellie form a bond of hardship throughout the game.

“We’re thrilled to be working with HBO and this fantastic creative team to bring The Last of Us series to life,”; said Jeff Frost, President of Sony Pictures Television Studios and Asad Qizilbash, Head of PlayStation Productions. “PlayStation’s innovative storytelling and ingenuity is a natural complement to SPT’s creative focus. Our collaboration is a great example of our ‘One Sony’ philosophy at work. We look forward to developing even more iconic game IP in the future.”

The series will be executive produced by Mazin and Druckmann as well as Carolyn Strauss from Chernobyl and Game of Thrones, Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan.