Development {{Multiple image |align=right |direction=horizontal |total_width=300 A film adaptation of
Naughty Dog's 2013 video game
The Last of Us was announced in March 2014, to be written by the game's writer and creative director
Neil Druckmann; it had entered
development hell by 2016, and the partnership ended and rights relinquished by 2019. Due to the extensive development of
a film based on
Uncharted, another game series by Naughty Dog, Druckmann ensured specific plot points were included when negotiating a deal with film and television studios; he felt more closely connected to
The Last of Uss creation and development than
Uncharteds and always wanted to be involved in its adaptation in some manner. Writer and director
Craig Mazin was approached in 2018 by
PlayStation Productions with a list of games for potential television adaptation; he was disappointed to discover
The Last of Us was being adapted into a film at the time as he felt television was a better fit. A fan of the game, having played it about twelve times, Mazin was introduced to Druckmann through
Shannon Woodward, a mutual friend, in 2019; Druckmann first showed Mazin in-development scenes from
The Last of Us Part II (2020) on July 3, 2019. Druckmann, a fan of Mazin's series
Chernobyl, agreed that
The Last of Us required a television series's length and pacing. They pitched it to
HBO about a week later. HBO chairman and chief content officer Casey Bloys and head of drama programming Francesca Orsi were unfamiliar with the game but trusted Mazin due to his work on
Chernobyl and his investment in the story and world.
A television adaptation was announced in the planning stages at HBO in March 2020, expected to cover events of the first game. Mazin and Druckmann were named to write and executive produce the series, while television producer
Carolyn Strauss and Naughty Dog president
Evan Wells were named executive producers, and
Gustavo Santaolalla, who worked on the games, the show's composer. The show was announced as a joint production of
Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, and Naughty Dog; it is the first show produced by PlayStation Productions. It is produced under the company name Bear and Pear Productions.
Johan Renck, Mazin's collaborator on
Chernobyl, was announced as executive producer and director of
the series premiere in June 2020; he dropped out by November due to scheduling conflicts as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic. HBO
greenlit the series on November 20. PlayStation Productions's Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan were named executive producers, and Word Games a production company. {{Multiple image |align=right |direction=horizontal |total_width=300 The Mighty Mint joined production in January 2021 and
Kantemir Balagov was announced as the pilot episode's director. He had been interested in adapting the game for years and was set to direct several opening episodes; in October 2022, Balagov said he left the project a year prior due to creative differences. Rose Lam was added as executive producer in February 2021. Pre-production in
Calgary, Alberta, began on March 15; Mazin arrived in May.
Ali Abbasi and
Jasmila Žbanić were announced as directors in April. In July 2021, the
Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) revealed
Peter Hoar was assigned to direct, followed in August by Mazin, in September by Druckmann, and in January 2022 by
Liza Johnson and Jeremy Webb. In February, Druckmann confirmed he directed an episode and felt his experience reinforced and reflected his experience in directing games. After several months traveling between Calgary and Los Angeles, Druckmann struggled to fulfil obligations at Naughty Dog and returned home to advise remotely, feeling confident in Mazin.
The Last of Us is the largest television production to be filmed in
Alberta and possibly the largest in Canadian history, generating for Alberta and creating 1,490 jobs. The first season's budget of over —more than $10 million per episode—exceeded that of each of
Game of Throness first five seasons, making it one of the
most expensive television series. According to Canadian artists union IATSE 212, the production led to a 30% increase in union membership and employment. The season covers the events of the first game and its downloadable expansion
The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014). The season's original ten-episode count was reduced to nine during production; the first two were combined after Bloys felt the first would not compel viewers to return. The first season was produced by Greg Spence and Cecil O'Connor. The series was renewed for a
second season on January 27, 2023, less than two weeks after it premiered.
Casting (left) and
Gabriel Luna (right) on set playing brothers
Joel and Tommy in
Canmore, Alberta, in November 2021|alt=Two men with dark hair, both wearing thick jackets, embracing each other Casting occurred virtually through
Zoom due to the pandemic. Casting director Victoria Thomas wanted to honor the game without being limited by it. On February 10, 2021, Pascal and Ramsey were cast as Joel and Ellie.
Mahershala Ali was reportedly considered for Joel, and Mazin spoke with
Matthew McConaughey for the role. Candidates considered for Ellie for the canceled film adaptation—such as
Maisie Williams and
Kaitlyn Dever—had aged out of consideration by the time the series was in production. The producers sought actors who could embody Joel and Ellie individually and imitate their relationship. Though both featured on HBO's
Game of Thrones, Pascal and Ramsey had not met before filming
The Last of Us but found they had instant chemistry, which developed over production. Mazin and Thomas sought high-profile guest stars; Thomas said many of the actors "don't usually do one-episode guest spots". Luna's casting as Tommy was announced on April 15, 2021, and Dandridge was confirmed to reprise her role of Marlene from the video games on May 27. In May, Classic Casting circulated a
casting call for
extras from Calgary,
Fort Macleod,
High River, and
Lethbridge; anyone over 18 could apply, and those with vehicles from 1995 to 2003 were recommended. It was announced Parker was cast as Sarah on June 30. Pierce, Bartlett, and
Con O'Neill's casting as Perry, Frank, and Bill was announced on July 15, followed by Torv's as Tess on July 22. On December 7, Bartlett claimed Offerman would appear on the show in a role close to his; two days later, Offerman was announced to be playing Bill, replacing O'Neill who dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. On December 9, Žbanić revealed the casting of Greene, Miles, and Wesley. Reid's casting as Riley was announced on January 14, 2022. In February, Mazin distributed a casting call for a boy aged 8–14 who is deaf, black, and proficient in
American Sign Language or
Black American Sign Language;
Deaf West Theatre confirmed this was for the character of Sam, to appear in two episodes filmed in March and April. In June, Druckmann announced Baker and Ashley Johnson would star in the series; their character names were revealed in December. Lamar Johnson and Woodard's casting as Henry and Sam was announced in August, alongside the official announcement of Greene and Miles as Marlon and Florence. Lynskey's casting as Kathleen was announced alongside the teaser trailer in September, while Shepherd's casting was revealed in the first trailer in December. Wesley's role as Maria was announced on January 9.
Writing A
post-apocalyptic drama and
thriller, the series was written by Mazin and Druckmann; Mazin wrote all episodes except the premiere and finale, which he co-wrote with Druckmann, and the seventh episode, written by Druckmann. Druckmann was convinced Mazin was the ideal creative partner for the series after witnessing his passion for the game's story; Druckmann referred to Mazin as the story's "co-parent". Mazin said the series may represent a
paradigm shift for film and television adaptations of video games due to the strength of the narrative, noting "it would only take [HBO executives] 20 minutes on
Google to realize
The Last of Us is the
Lawrence of Arabia of video game narratives". The writers avoided making "a zombie show", acknowledging the infected creatures were a vessel through which characters are pressured to make interesting decisions and reveal their true selves. While Druckmann was not able to "unplug" from the characters during the games' development due to the medium's immersive nature, he felt he was able to do so when writing for television. Druckmann felt the most important element of adapting the game was to "keep the soul", particularly character relationships, whereas gameplay and action sequences were of minimal importance. Mazin said the changes were "designed to fill things out and expand". Content cut from the game was added to the show, including the story of Ellie's mother, Anna, which Mazin found "gorgeous". Druckmann said some scripts borrow dialogue directly from the game, while others deviate; some of the game's action-heavy sequences were changed to focus on character drama at HBO's encouragement. He said the series took the opposite approach to adaptation than
Uncharted (2022), which tells a new story with game homages to give "an
Uncharted flavor", whereas
The Last of Us is a closer adaptation, allowing alterations such as changing character perspectives. The writers found the series an opportunity to delve into backstories of characters who the game otherwise ignored, wanting to better understand their motivations. Mazin compared the process to adapting a novel, with identical emotional beats despite different narrative events. Druckmann was open to changing aspects of the games but wanted a strong reason, ensuring he and Mazin considered impacts on later events. The game's outbreak takes place in 2013 with its post-apocalyptic narrative in 2033; this was changed to 2003 and 2023 as the writers felt matching the story to the broadcast period was more interesting and changed little of the story. They added the outbreak's origins to ground the narrative; following COVID-19, they recognized audiences are more knowledgeable about viral pandemics. Borrowing an approach from
Chernobyl, Mazin opened the series with a fictional 1960s talk show explaining the origins of fungal infections, implying humanity knew the potential risk for some time. The writers removed spores—the vector through which infection spreads in the games—and replaced it with tendrils forming a unified network, inspired by the idea of
mycelium. They felt spores were an unrealistic threat while an interconnected network increased tension, and gas masks did not translate well into television. Visually, the fungal infection was inspired by
jellyfish stings after Žbanić sent an image to Mazin during preproduction.
Filming {{Multiple image |align=right |direction=horizontal |total_width=350 |perrow=2 Approximately was spent on production ($71 million on salaries and wages, and $70 million at local businesses) and over 1,000 businesses in Alberta were supported. Calgary officials felt Alberta was chosen for production partly due to the removal of the
tax credit cap of per project. Supervising location manager Jason Nolan began preparation work in January 2021, leading a 115-person team that found and transformed more than 180 locations. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, cast and crew quarantined for two weeks after entering Canada.
Ksenia Sereda worked as
cinematographer with Balagov, Mazin, Druckmann, and Johnson, while Eben Bolter worked with Hoar and Webb, Christine A. Maier with Žbanić, and Nadim Carlsen with Abbasi. Sereda, Mazin, and Druckmann worked early to establish the series's visual language, largely referencing the game and its warmer tones. After testing, Sereda opted for an
Alexa Mini with
Cooke Optics S4/i lenses, maintaining character perspectives while preserving background depth; Bolter found it effective for
handheld shots while emulating
35 mm film. The series filmed for 218 days, with around 18–19 days per episode, amounting to 2–3 pages of script per day. Filming began in Calgary on July 12, a week later than originally scheduled. It moved to High River and Fort Macleod (replicating Austin, Texas) before returning to Calgary in August. Balagov completed production by August 30, and Hoar on October 5. A four-day shoot in
Downtown Edmonton in October cost around , including at
Rice Howard Way and the
Alberta Legislature Building. Filming took place in downtown Calgary and
Beltline in October. Druckmann's episode was completed by November 7. Production occurred in
Canmore, Alberta (replicating
Jackson, Wyoming) and at
Mount Royal University and the
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in November. Žbanić completed production by December 9. In January 2022,
Northland Village Mall in northwest Calgary was decorated for production. Filming took place in
Okotoks and
Waterton Lakes National Park in February, and
Airport Trail in northeast Calgary saw three-day closures in March. Webb's episodes entered production in March and continued until the end of principal photography in June. Calgary was used to replicate
Kansas City, Missouri, in March. Production continued in Calgary in April and May, including around the
Calgary Courts Centre,
Kensington, and
Victoria Park, and near
Barrier Lake and
Grande Prairie. Reshoots for Texas scenes took place in
Olds in late May and early June, and High River in June. Production concluded in the early hours of June 11, two days later than originally scheduled;
Additional photography took place in Kansas City on October 4. Several filming locations subsequently became
tourist destinations.
Music , who worked on the video games, composed the score for the television series. Santaolalla and
David Fleming composed the score for the television series; the former wrote its opening theme. He said Latino viewers "will recognize touches" of his music, and drew on his experiences in film and television, having composed the themes and some tracks for
Jane the Virgin (2014–2019) and
Making a Murderer (2015–2018). He primarily recrafted his previous work instead of creating new music, focusing on elements he found interesting. Fleming's work was inspired by real-world sounds within a decayed civilization. A 66-track
soundtrack album for the series was released digitally on February 27. The first episode uses songs like "
Tomorrow" by
Avril Lavigne and "
White Flag" by
Dido to foreshadow Sarah's fate and Joel's character arc. Its final scene and credits feature the song "
Never Let Me Down Again" by
Depeche Mode, which Mazin chose due to its blend of upbeat sounds and dark lyrics; the song returned in
the sixth episode, performed by Mazin's daughter Jessica, to demonstrate Ellie feeling let down by Joel.
The third episode uses "
Long, Long Time" by
Linda Ronstadt, which exhibits themes of unfulfilled love and how time heals wounds, echoing Bill and Frank's relationship. Streams of the song increased significantly following the episode's broadcast; several outlets compared it to the 2022 resurgence of
Kate Bush's "
Running Up That Hill" after its use in
the fourth season of
Stranger Things.
The fourth episode's title references the lyrics of "
Alone and Forsaken" by
Hank Williams, which is used in the episode; it was previously used in the original game and one of its trailers, and a trailer for the television series.
The seventh episode features "
All or None" by
Pearl Jam to represent Ellie's loneliness and uncomfortability, reuses
Etta James's version of "
I Got You Babe" from
The Last of Us: Left Behind as its romantic lyrics hidden by joyous music mirrored the feelings of Ellie and Riley, and uses
A-ha's "
Take On Me" to reflect their feelings towards each other and illustrate Ellie's journey; a
cover version of "Take On Me" was used in a trailer for the series, and Ellie performs the song in
The Last of Us Part II.
Design The production team included five art directors and hundreds of technicians. The game's art director, concept artists, and environment artists provided feedback on costumes and sets. Costume designer Cynthia Ann Summers found the series more difficult than outfit-focused media like
fantasy or
period pieces as the costumes had to be integral to the story without standing out. She ensured Joel's outfits demonstrated a lack of consideration, as he places little thought into his appearance; Mazin demanded specific colours. Summers required around 30 duplicates of each outfit to account for elements like blood and dirt progression,
stunt doubles, and reserves. The breakdown department, responsible for disfiguring outfits as required by the story, was led by Sage Lovett. At Mazin's request, Summers and her team focused on minor details relevant to apocalyptic settings, like shoelaces replacing belts. Pascal and Ramsey were happy to wear regular outfits as they had both worked on science-fiction and period pieces. Production designer John Paino referenced the video game but focused on references used by Naughty Dog during development. He created an image collage which included a photograph of reassembled chairs, which Mazin considered the show's mandate: "the built world is unbuilt and rebuilt". Paino found several Canadian towns had similarities to American architecture, particularly Texas. He was unable to locate empty and abandoned buildings or location imitating
Boston's brick-lined streets for the first two episodes, requiring manual transformation and constructions. Paino and his team constructed the Boston quarantine zone near
Stampede Park over several months for the first episode, the town of Lincoln in around six to twelve weeks for the third, and the Kansas City cul-de-sac in nine weeks for
the fifth. The team engaged mostly Canadian staff, including Alberta-based Paul Healy as the season's set decorator. Barrie and Sarah Gower, with whom Mazin had worked on
Chernobyl, were engaged to create the prosthetics for the infected. Barrie Gower appreciated the series avoided "stereotypical zombies—the pronounced cheekbones, sunken eyes, lots of blood and gore". The production team created a large reference library for "fuzz,
slime mold,
shelf mushrooms,
button mushrooms, different textures and colors". Mazin wanted the clickers to resemble the in-game design through prosthetics; he felt using
visual effects would have lessened their impact. Their team found themselves continually referring to the original concept art from the game. For the approximately 70 actors portraying the infected mob in the fifth episode, 70 artists applied prosthetics to about 30 people in each three-hour shift. The bloater suit was coated in a gel-like liquid during filming to appear wet and reflective.
Paul Becker and
Terry Notary choreographed the series. Notary wanted the creatures' movements to imitate each other, akin to
schools of fish; for the fifth episode, he set up a boot camp to prepare the actors for the role.
Misty Lee and Phillip Kovats, who had worked on the games, returned to voice the clickers for the series.
Post-production The series was edited by Timothy A. Good and Emily Mendez over 18 months; Mark Hartzell edited
the second episode, and Cindy Mollo edited the eighth. After Mazin worked on
Chernobyl, Good expressed interest in collaborating; the two had been friends for some time. A different editor was employed for
The Last of Us but departed due to scheduling conflicts; Good joined the series after finishing work on
the third season of
The Umbrella Academy. He started with the third episode, with Mendez as his assistant editor. Good showed her work to Mazin, and they agreed for Mendez to co-edit the seventh episode as it adapted
Left Behind, her favorite part of the games; She continued as Good's co-editor for the fifth, sixth, and ninth episodes. Good chose not to play the game and let the
dailies instruct his emotional instincts; Mendez and Mazin gave him details when necessary. Mendez was tasked with the temporary
sound design, using her own library and sound effects from the game. Good used Santaolalla's
soundtrack from the game as the
temp score during editing and found it influenced his decisions. Sixteen visual effects teams worked on the series, supervised by Alex Wang. The season had over 3,000 visual effects shots; most episodes had around 250. The 650-person team at
DNEG worked on 535 shots for the series over 18 months, primarily focusing on environmental effects, including the scenes set in Boston, Kansas City, Jackson, and Salt Lake City; field trips were conducted to gather resources, and the team regularly referenced the video games. The visual effects teams consulted with Naughty Dog's concept artists when creating the infected, and used
timelapse videos of
Cordyceps growth as animation references. All studios worked on the fifth episode's action sequence; the episode had around 350 to 400 visual effects shots.
Wētā FX created the infected effects; 50 to 70 creatures were digitally added to the horde. Design studio Elastic created the show's
title sequence to demonstrate the "unrelenting nature" of the fungus; creative directors Andy Hall and Nadia Tzuo researched fungi to ensure an accurate depiction and movement. They pitched several ideas to Mazin and Druckmann before settling on the realistic depiction; Mazin enjoyed the idea of the fungus appearing beautiful despite its destructive nature. == Release ==