HBO’s The Last Of Us Series Has 10 Episodes In Season 1

Filming on HBO’s The Last of Us TV series is currently underway in Canada, and now a few more details about the project have come to light from writer Craig Mazin. He revealed this on a Scriptnotes podcast, also confirming that season 1 has five different directors.

Mazin–who previously worked with HBO on the acclaimed Chernobyl mini-series–said the writing for the first three-to-four episodes is “kinda done” (via Collider).

The Last of Us received a straight-to-series order, which means HBO is not filming a pilot episode and is instead launching directly into the series. The same was true for Chernobyl, and Mazin acknowledged that this presents some potential issues, one being that the production team isn’t able to “retool” what they otherwise could have if it was a pilot.

HBO’s Game of Thrones famously filmed a disaster of a pilot episode that featured a different actress as Daenerys and other big changes. The Sons of Anarchy spin-off Mayans MC also re-shot its pilot and made casting changes after the first pilot filmed.

Mazin also said on the podcast that The Last of Us series has “budget challenges,” but overall, he believes the finances are where it ought to be. “We have the budget to make an excellent show, and so we shall,” he said.

In terms of the five directors for season 1, we currently know that Kantemir Balagov (Beanpole) is directing the season premiere, while celebrated directors Jasmila Zbanic and Ali Abbasi have been tapped to direct episodes, leaving two more directors to be named later.

Neil Druckmann, the writer and director of the original video game, is developing The Last of Us TV show alongside Mazin. As for Mazin, he’s also writing the star-studded Borderlands movie and a new Pirates of the Caribbean film.

Pedro Pascal plays Joel in The Last of Us, while Bella Ramsey is lined up to play Ellie. Diego Luna plays Tommy, and he recently shared what looks like the first set photo from the production.

As for the game series, Naughty Dog might make The Last of Us 3, or potentially a new IP, as its next game. On the more immediate horizon, Naughty Dog is developing a standalone Last of Us multiplayer game. In other news, a recent report said Naughty Dog is also working on a Last of Us remake for PS5.