The Last of Us season 2 halts casting over writers strike

The Hollywood writers strike continues, shutting down productions across the industry. That includes The Last of Us, HBO’s hit zombie drama.

The Last of Us debuted in January to rave reviews and huge viewership. It’s based on the beloved The Last of Us video game series from Naughty Dog, helping to push video game adaptations to a new level of respectability.

Season 2 of The Last of Us is still in pre-production, meaning the cameras aren’t rolling yet. And getting to that point might take longer than originally thought.

The Last of Us was using video game scenes for season 2 auditions

Variety reports that the casting department for The Last of Us was preparing actors to audition for season 2 with scenes taken directly from the video game, since no scripts have been finalized yet for season 2. And with the writers’ strike on, nothing can be written. The games have TV-quality writing in the first place — many scenes from season 1 of the show were drawn almost word-for-word from the game series — so using game scenes is a nice workaround.

However, those plans have officially been put on hold. The Last of Us season 2 won’t resume casting until after the studios reach a settlement with the striking writers.

The Last of Us showrunners are not working on the show at all during the strike

Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, the two showrunners for The Last of Us, are not currently working on the series in solidarity with the striking writers. Mazin has been spotted on the picket lines with his fellow Writers Guild of America members. Druckmann is the creator of the video games in addition to a showrunner on the HBO series; considering that Naughty Dog recently released a PC port for The Last of Us Part I and has an upcoming The Last of Us multiplayer game in the works, he’s probably busy with game stuff.

So how will this affect The Last of Us season 2? The good news is that production wasn’t even planned to start until late this year. Even with the delay from the strike, the series is still hoping to start filming by early 2024, which isn’t that big of a pause.

Without completed scripts from Mazin or Druckmann and a firm prohibition against writing new one during the strike, the production has no choice but to pause. Things are much trickier for HBO’s other big genre series House of the Dragon, which was in the middle of filming on its second season when the strike went into effect.

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels