The Last of Us HBO series: Kantemir Balagov replaces Johan Renck as director

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Seven months ago, it was announced that Craig Mazin, creator of HBO's limited series Chernobyl, and Chernobyl director Johan Renck would be reuniting on another HBO series, this one an adaptation of the video game The Last of Us. As it turns out, that reunion won't be happening. Renck ran into scheduling issues and had to drop out of the project. Now it has been revealed that the pilot episode of The Last of Us is going to be directed by Kantemir Balagov, who earned a lot of praise with his Russian-language dramas Closeness and Beanpole.

I haven't seen Balagov's movies, but The Hollywood Reporter says his hiring indicates that HBO wants to make sure The Last of Us has "a serious dramatic tone". From what I've heard of the game, that's exactly what the show should have.

Written and executive produced by Mazin alongside Neil Druckmann, the game's writer and creative director, The Last of Us will be set 

20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed and centers on the relationship between Joel, a smuggler in this new world, and Ellie, a teenager who may be key to a cure for a deadly pandemic. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle the 14-year-old girl out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey as they traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

The series is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and game developer Naughty Dog. Carolyn Strauss, Naughty Dog's Evan Wells, and Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan of PlayStation Productions also serve as executive producers.