Image: HBO
Recent WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in Hollywood have significantly delayed multiple TV shows, including The Last of Us.
It looks like fans will have to wait two more years for the next season of The Last of Us to premiere, according to HBO CEO Casey Bloys. During a press conference reported on by Variety, Bloys confirmed that the series is currently expected to begin production in early 2024, and is slated for a 2025 launch at the earliest.
When is The Last of Us coming back?
HBO announced that The Last of Us would return for a second season before the first season even finished airing, suggesting that it wanted more episodes out as soon as possible. However, the series quickly faced a few obstacles in production: first, the WGA strikes meant writers and showrunners would not be able to work on any Hollywood productions unless companies agreed to the WGA’s terms. Second, the SAG-AFTRA strikes also meant that actors would not be able to work on any productions under similar terms.
The WGA strike lifted only recently, allowing creator-showrunner Craig Mazin to start working on scripts for the series along with game director Neil Druckmann. In statements released prior to the strike’s end, Druckmann had confirmed that the team had, “outlined all of Season 2 and we’re ready to go as soon as the strike ends.” Mazin also confirmed that he had written, “and submitted the script for the first episode and sent it in [to HBO] around 10:30 or 10:40 p.m. right before the midnight the [WGA] strike began. I think it’s becoming essentially a near certainty that we won’t be able to start [filming] when we were hoping to start, which is upsetting. We are all raring to go.”
The Last of Us Season 2 is confirmed to adapt the events of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part 2, but the game’s story will be told over the course of two seasons due to its length. During the press conference, Bloys confirmed that these strikes had caused production for The Last of Us to be delayed, and a sizzle reel showing off HBO’s 2025 slate included the show’s second season. The White Lotus Season 3 and Euphoria Season 3 were also confirmed for 2025, marking a two-year gap between seasons for the former and three years for the latter.
HBO’s It prequel series Welcome to Derry has also been delayed to 2025, but House of the Dragon Season 2 is still on track for Summer 2024. Big dramas having multiple year-long gaps between seasons is not unheard of in this age of big-budget TV, but it does hurt their audience somewhat. Will people still care as much about Joel and Ellie two years from now? Most importantly, will we at least have Naughty Dog’s mystery multiplayer The Last of Us spin-off in our hands by then?