The Last of Us will land on HBO in just a few weeks, and expectations couldn’t be higher. The adaptation of the hit PlayStation franchise will recreate the events of the first game in live-action, in which Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) journey across a post-apocalyptic United States in an attempt to secure a cure for the deadly fungal infection that destroyed the world.
With game director Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl‘s Craig Mazin on board, a monster budget that made it the biggest television production in Canadian history, and an excellent supporting cast, we’re hoping for the best.
It seems that the opening episode will practically be a movie in its own right, too, with @DomtheBomYT posting an image from HBO Latino that appears to confirm an 85-minute runtime:
The season premiere will almost certainly retell the gripping opening of the game, in which Joel and his daughter’s peaceful suburban life is shattered upon the arrival of some unwanted fungal guests. This quickly dovetails into the full meltdown of society, with panicked people fleeing through the streets as the infected consume them.
Beyond that, we should get a peek at life 20 years after the fall, with the survivors trying to maintain security amidst the ruins of the past.
This movie-length premiere could cover a lot of ground, and will likely quickly show whether the show will succeed in bringing one of the best games of all-time to the small screen.
Either way, we don’t have too long to find out, as The Last of Us will premiere on HBO on Jan 15, 2023.