The highly-anticipated HBO show The Last of Us, adapted from the popular video game series, will reportedly exceed $10 million dollars per episode. According to local Alberta site CTV News, the series budget is rumored to be in the hundreds of millions — which places the series high on the list of most expensive television shows ever made, among fellow HBO shows such as Game Of Thrones and The Pacific.
According to IATSE 212 director Damien Petti, “This project well exceeds the eight figure per episode mark, so there is a multiplier effect on our economy in terms of its impact. There are hundreds of related businesses benefitting from the plethora of work.” Petti‘s comments also seem to confirm previous reports that the show will be in production for approximately a year, saying The Last of Us “has five art directors and employs an army of hundreds of technicians. It has had six months of prep and shoots (in Alberta) for 12 months.”
The series is developed by Chernobyl‘s Craig Mazin and Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann, and is executive produced by both Mazin and Druckmann as well as Carolyn Strauss, Rose Lam, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, and Carter Swan.
With 10 episodes set for the first season of The Last of Us, its purported budget could surpass the final season of Game of Thrones, which had six episodes and $90 million per episode. The two lead actors for The Last of Us, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, have also appeared on GoT as Oberyn Martell and Lyanna Mormont respectfully, so being on another highly expensive production must be very rewarding.
The Last of Us is expected to be released in the second half of 2022. Here’s the official synopsis for the show:
The story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel (portrayed by Pascal) – a hardened survivor – is hired to smuggle Ellie (portrayed by Ramsey) – 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 US and depend on each other for survival.
via Collider