Development
A film adaptation of Naughty Dog's video game The Last of Us (2013) was announced in 2014, to be written by its creative director and writer Neil Druckmann; it entered development hell by 2016 and the rights had relinquished by 2019, when Druckmann met Craig Mazin. They agreed an adaptation required a television series's length and pacing. HBO announced the series was in planning stages in March 2020, written by Mazin and Druckmann, also serving as executive producers with Carolyn Strauss and Evan Wells. It is PlayStation Productions's first show, announced as a joint production with Sony Pictures Television and Naughty Dog. HBO greenlit the series in November, adding executive producers Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan and production company Word Games, followed by production company the Mighty Mint in January 2021 and executive producer Rose Lam in February. Produced by Greg Spence and Cecil O'Connor, the first season's ten-episode count was reduced to nine during production.
On January 27, 2023, less than two weeks after the premiere, HBO renewed the series for a second season. While the first season covers the events of the first game and its downloadable expansion The Last of Us: Left Behind (2014), the second covers the first half of the sequel, The Last of Us Part II (2020); the second half is set to span up to two more seasons. Jacqueline Lesko was named an executive producer in March 2023, and O'Connor by February 2024. Kate Herron, Nina Lopez-Corrado, Mark Mylod, and Stephen Williams were announced as second-season directors alongside Druckmann, Hoar, and Mazin in January 2024. The season's seven episodes, revealed in June, were produced by Allen Marshall Palmer and Julie Herrin.
HBO renewed the series for a third season on April 9, 2025, ahead of the premiere of the second. Halley Gross, who co-wrote Part II with Druckmann, joined the second season as a writer and co-executive producer, and became an executive producer for the third. Druckmann and Gross stepped away from their creative duties on the series to work on other projects in July 2025; Mazin remained as sole showrunner. He will direct the third-season premiere; other directors include Vincenzo Natali. The third season, produced by Leann Stonebreaker, is set to be longer and "significantly larger". A fourth season was expected, though Mazin had not decided by July 2025, and HBO's Casey Bloys indicated that the third would likely be the last. The series's narrative is not set to overtake the games.
The Last of Us is the largest television production to be filmed in Alberta and possibly the largest in Canadian history, generating CA$182 million for Alberta and creating 1,490 jobs. According to Canadian artists union IATSE 212, the production led to a 30% increase in union membership and employment. The first season's budget of over CA$100 million—more than $10 million per episode—exceeded that of each of Game of Thrones's first five seasons, making it one of the most expensive television series. The budget increased for the second season.
Casting
Casting for the first season took place virtually through Zoom due to the COVID-19 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. The producers sought actors who could embody Joel and Ellie individually and imitate their relationship. Though both were featured on Game of Thrones, Pascal and Ramsey had not met before the filming of The Last of Us began 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". Guest roles were announced throughout 2021: Luna in April, Dandridge in May, Parker in June, Pierce, Bartlett, and Torv in July, and Offerman in December. This was followed by Reid in January 2022, Baker and Ashley Johnson in June, Lamar Johnson, Woodard, Greene, and Miles in August, Lynskey in September, Shepherd in December, and Wesley in January 2023.
Casting for the second season was put on hold in May 2023 due to the Writers Guild of America strike; actors had been auditioning with scenes from The Last of Us Part II due to an absence of scripts. Casting director Mary Vernieu approached Mazin and Druckmann with lists of actors for roles, including many with whom they were unfamiliar. Several roles were cast without auditions or tests; Mazin instead focused on actors fitting their individual roles and had "faith" that they would work with their co-stars. The second season's casting started with Abby. Dever, Mazino, and Merced's casting was announced in January 2024, followed by O'Hara's in February, Ramirez, Barer, Gabrielle, and Lord's in March, and Wright's in May. Ahlers, Burke, Lamanna, Pantoliano, Park, and Ubach's castings were announced in March 2025.
The series shifted to Abby's perspective in
Writing
The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic drama and thriller. Mazin wrote all first-season episodes except the seventh, written by Druckmann, and the two co-wrote the premiere and finale. A writers' room was established for the second season, with Mazin and Druckmann joined by Gross and Bo Shim, Mazin's first-season assistant; Mazin wrote the first five episodes and co-wrote the final two with Druckmann and Gross. The writers' room for the third season opened in late February 2025, joined by Ryan James, who worked on the games, and Alexandra Cheng, Mazin's second-season writing assistant. Mazin planned to return to writing after the second season aired. Druckmann, Gross, and Shim stepped away from the writers' room by July, and Mazin had started writing by August, set to take several months.
The writers avoided making "a zombie show", considering the infected a vessel through which characters are pressured to make decisions and reveal their true selves. Content cut from the games was added to the series. Mazin compared the process to adapting a novel, with identical emotional beats despite different events. Some action-heavy sequences were changed to focus on character drama at HBO's encouragement. The second season's additional characters granted a broader focus, allowing more action sequences, and Mazin expects more in the third. The second season explores themes of tribalism, and highlights themes of change and growth, demonstrated in characters, communities, and the infected. While the first season focuses on Joel and Ellie, and the second on Ellie and Dina, the third is set to follow Abby's story.
Druckmann wanted the adaptation to "keep the soul" from the games, particularly character relationships. He was open to changing aspects but wanted strong reasons, ensuring they 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 events occurring simultaneously with broadcast was more interesting and did not fundamentally change the story.
Filming
Ksenia Sereda is the lead director of photography on the series. The first season filmed for 218 days, with around 18–19 days per episode. Filming began in Calgary, Alberta, on July 12, 2021, and moved to High River and Fort Macleod in July and Calgary in August. A four-day shoot in Downtown Edmonton in October cost CA$372,000. Filming moved to Calgary until November, then Canmore. Production took place in Okotoks and Waterton Lakes in February 2022, Calgary from March to May, Olds in May and June, and High River in June. It concluded on June 11, followed by additional photography in Kansas City in October.
The second season was filmed in British Columbia under the working title Mega Sword, using around 60–70 locations. Delayed by the writers' and actors' strikes, production began on February 12, 2024, with filming taking place in Kamloops, Mission, Fort Langley, and Langley. Production returned to Calgary in March, including in Exshaw and along Highway 1A, and moved to Britannia Beach in April, June, and July, Downtown Eastside and Nanaimo in May, Chinatown, Downtown Vancouver, and New Westminster in July, and Gastown in August.
Music
Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming composed the score for the television series; Santaolalla, who worked on the video games, wrote its opening theme. Mazin and Druckmann considered his score part of the franchise's "DNA". Santaolalla treated the series as "an expansion" of the games and kept them tied to each other, not seeking to revise or correct previous work as he considered it authentic. He worked on the character-driven score and Fleming on the action-driven, and they collaborated on blending the two. To match Santaolalla's work, Fleming kept his score minimalistic and selected instruments that paired appropriately. Soundtrack albums were released for each season.
Druckmann considered music conducive to the narrative, with characters performing or listening to music contributing to worldbuilding or relationships. Several episode titles are based on songs: "Long, Long Time" features the song by Linda Ronstadt, which exhibits themes of unfulfilled love and how time heals wounds, echoing Bill and Frank's relationship; "Please Hold to My Hand" references the lyrics of Hank Williams's "Alone and Forsaken"; "Future Days" is named after the song by Pearl Jam, which features in the games and series; and "Through the Valley" is named after Shawn James's song, of which a cover by Ashley Johnson is featured in the episode. Several songs saw stream increases following their use in the series, and many subsequently charted.
Design and post-production
Five art directors and hundreds of technicians worked on the first season, and the game's artists provided feedback on costumes and sets. Production designer John Paino referenced the game but focused on Naughty Dog's own references. 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". Art director Don Macaulay replaced Paino for the second season. Costume designer Cynthia Ann Summers found the series more difficult than fantasy or period pieces as the costumes had to be integral to the story without standing out; Ann Foley, who replaced Summers on the second and third seasons, agreed, working directly with the actors for input and feedback.
Barrie and Sarah Gower, with whom Mazin had worked on Chernobyl, created the prosthetics for the infected. Mazin wanted the clickers to resemble the in-game design through prosthetics; he felt using visual effects would have lessened their impact. Choreographer Terry Notary wanted the creatures' movements to imitate each other, akin to schools of fish. Misty Lee and Phillip Kovats, who had worked on the games, returned to voice the clickers for the series.
Timothy A. Good is the series's lead editor, working alongside Emily Mendez, who was his assistant editor before becoming his co-editor for the first season and an editor for the second. Mark Hartzell and Cindy Mollo each edited a first-season episode, and Simon Smith edited two in the second season. Sixteen visual effects teams worked on the series, supervised by Alex Wang. The first 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 season over 18 months, primarily focusing on environmental effects; field trips were conducted to gather resources, and the team regularly referenced the video games.
