The Last of Us TV show production is the “largest” in Canadian history

HBO’s live-action adaptation of The Last of Us — starring Game Of Thrones veterans Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey — is preparing to enter an entire year’s worth of filming to cover just the first season of the zombie apocalypse drama. This intense production schedule will apparently make it the “largest” film or television production in Canadian history!

Pascal, 46, will play protagonist Joel, a battle-hardened smuggler who is hired to escort 14-year-old Ellie (Bella Ramsey) outside a quarantine zone. When things take a turn, Joel realizes Ellie is incredibly important to the future of humanity due to her immunity to the virus. He accompanies her on a perilous journey across the zombie-ridden United States. Their target is a militia group called Fireflies, who may be able to find out what makes Ellie immune and use it to save the world. But when they’re threatened by the infected and the living alike, getting to their destination is not an easy task.

The upcoming adaptation is written and executive produced by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) alongside Neil Druckmann, the writer and director of the original Sony video games.

We don’t have a premiere date for the show as yet. However, a report from CBC confirms when filming will take place. Turns out it’s a pretty intense schedule that will undoubtedly consume a lot of Pedro Pascal’s extremely sought-after time. Filming will start on July 5, and won’t wrap until June 8, 2022 — almost a full year of filming!

“[It] will be the largest ever, I believe, film or television production in Canadian history,” Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said in a statement. The series is already breaking records before airing. This is a good sign, right?

With it being such an intense production, there have been questions about Pascal’s other commitments during that time. For instance, he also needs to film season 3 of The Mandalorian, where he plays the title character. It’s likely The Last of Us won’t film continuously, and he’ll get breaks to go film in the galaxy far, far away. This is no time to panic.

As for Bella Ramsey, this proves a fantastic opportunity to see the 17-year-old actress stand out in a starring role. She’s best known for playing Lyanna Mormont, the extremely confident and outspoken leader from House Mormont in Game of Thrones. Ellie, who is just as confident, seems like a great match for her.

The Last of Us is getting a remake?

In other The Last of Us news, apparently developer Naughty Dog is hard at work on remaking the  original 2013 game for PlayStation 5! They’ve already remastered the game once before, so what are they going to do now? Or is it just to make a buck and raise the profile of the series, which also had a sequel come out last year?

Details are scarce. Given the popularity of the original game, and the fact that there is already a remaster, there doesn’t seem much more to do. Adding new story elements seems unlikely, but we’ll see what happens.

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h/t Polygon