Based on the video game which won countless Game of the Year awards, The Last of Us is set to take television by storm. Airing on HBO Max, the series is their biggest release for 2023.
According to its creative team, The Last of Us intends to be ultra-faithful to its video game story with no filler. Viewers will embark on the journey with Pedro Pascal’s Joel and Bella Ramsey’s Ellie, but how long will the ride last in the streaming exclusive?
How many episodes will there be?
The Last of Us is HBO’s first ever foray into video game adaptations, coming off the back of streaming rivals such as Netflix with The Witcher, and Paramount Plus with Halo. Both of their competitors had success with the format, with the latter doing weekly drops.
Similarly, The Last of Us will have weekly drops every Sunday, with the first season consisting of nine episodes. The episodes vary greatly in length, with shortest being 46 minutes and the longest sitting at the cinematic length of 82 minutes. Given the original game takes around 15 hours to complete its story, and upwards of 30 if you want to 100 percent complete it, it means the first game’s story will be adapted nearly one-for-one in this run time.
Ramsey and Pascal could also return for a second season if not more, with the creative team believing an adaptation of Part II would require potentially more than just one season.
The Last of Us is available to stream exclusively from HBO Max.