HBO‘s hit live-TV adaptation of The Last Of Us could last around four seasons, according to showrunner Craig Mazin.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Mazin teased that his and The Last Of Us creator Neil Druckmann’s vision for the HBO series could see it last anywhere between three to five seasons, though he thinks “four seems like a good number”.
“It can end up being three or five. But four seems like a good number. Some seasons, because of the story we’re telling, will need fewer episodes and some will need more. The best news is the audience wants more,” Mazin said.
Even if fans’ demand for more episodes and seasons of the show remain high, Mazin said that he and Druckmann won’t give in to the pressure of adding more episodes for the sake of it: “We will not indulge a desire for more simply to make them happier when they hear how many episodes are announced. And if they don’t like how many episodes are in a season because they want more, well, OK. But when all is said and done, I think the wisdom of how we lay it out will hopefully be clear.”
“What’s important is when they get to the end of the season, they’re like, ‘That was a good season’”.
While season one of the HBO adaptation managed to capture the entirety of 2013’s The Last Of Us game, not all of 2020’s The Last Of Us Part II will make it into season two of the show. “I can certainly confirm is that that story does not fit into one season,” Mazin said.
The Last Of Us Part II will be a particularly difficult season to film, as it’s set five years after the events of the first game and season. Besides the time factor, the story is told from two perspectives: Ellie (Bella Ramsey), and a new antagonist/protagonist Abby, who has yet to be cast.
When asked if the role of Abby had already been set, Mazin replied with a simple “maybe”. However, with the ongoing WGA actors and writers strike, all progress on season two of HBO’s The Last Of Us has been halted.
HBO’s The Last Of Us scored rave reviews earlier this year, with NME‘s Alex Flood scoring it four stars. Flood wrote: “Gamers have been burned before by poorly conceived adaptations of their favourite titles, so they were naturally skeptical. But they needn’t have been. The Last Of Us lacks novel ideas, but when it’s this good it can get away with it.”
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