A faithful adaptation of the video game, HBO’s “The Last of Us” premiered on both HBO and HBO Max this past Sunday night, and the show is already proving to be a massive hit.
Across linear and HBO Max, “The Last of Us” debuted with 4.7 million viewers, making it the third largest debut for HBO behind “Boardwalk Empire” and “House of the Dragon.”
Deadline notes, “HBO said that Sunday night viewership typically represents 20%-40% of the show’s total gross audience per episode.”
For the sake of comparison, AMC’s “The Walking Dead” debuted with 5.35 million viewers back in 2010, eventually hitting 17.29 million viewers at its height just a few years later.
If “The Last of Us” continues to be a hit it’s very likely we’ll be getting a second season. The plan is for the first season to cover the first game, and the second to adapt the game’s sequel.
HBO’s “The Last of Us” 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.
Pedro Pascal (“The Mandalorian”) is starring in the series as Joel and Bella Ramsey (“Game of Thrones”) is playing Ellie. Gabriel Luna (Terminator: Dark Fate) is playing Tommy, the brother of Pascal’s Joel. Storm Reid, Anna Torv, Jeffrey Pierce, Nick Offerman, Merle Dandridge, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett and Con O’Neil will also star in the series.
Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”) developed the series for HBO, and worked directly alongside Neil Druckmann to write and executive produce the small screen adaptation.
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