When will The Last of Us series return to HBO? The creator of the adaptation, Craig Mazin, made a big announcement about this in recent hours.
If you follow cinema and series news at all, you probably know that an actors’ and screenwriters’ strike is going on in Hollywood. As a result, since May 2023, all film and television projects have been frozen. No one escapes this – not even the enormous Marvel machine – and obviously, the series The Last of Us is affected and has had to suspend production of its season 2. Will the teams be able to get back to work soon?
Season 2 of The Last of Us series ready to start?
Hollywood has been witnessing for several months a double social movement, something that had never been seen there since 1960. And faced with the stubbornness of the studios in not giving in, all the schedules of films and series have been disrupted with a number resulting in delays. The situation is such that a few weeks ago, the creator of the series The Last of Us had come to terms with the idea of not being able to film season 2 this summer as originally planned.
“I think we are almost certain that we will not be able to start filming The Last of Us season 2 on the date that we had hoped. Which is frustrating. We’re all looking forward to getting started. We were born to do this. We live for that and not because it is an obligation. Otherwise, why would we do this crazy work? Not for the money anyway, I can assure you.” he declared. But in a twist, the producers’ alliance (AMPTP) and the screenwriters’ unions (WGA) have finally agreed on an agreement in principle. News that will change everything for the series The Last of Us which is still at a standstill.
The creator of the HBO show, Craig Mazin, is delighted. “Very proud of the WGA (Writers Guild of America) and its members. The strike has not been officially called off, but as soon as it is, we will take action”. A huge step forward, but still, everything is not yet completely done.
Not everything is resolved…
As Craig Mazin points out, the strike has not been officially called off. “No one shall return to work until expressly authorized by the Guild” warned the union. And after that, will it be the green light for the filming of season 2 of The Last of Us? Well no ! First of all, we have to write the scripts for the new episodes. For the moment, only the first has been written and sent to HBO for validation. “We were able to plan the entire season 2. I also wrote and submitted to HBO the script for the first episode. I sent it to the channel around 10:30 or 10:40 p.m., just before the strike started at midnight.” Mazin announced.
It will therefore require several weeks, even months of work, especially since writing the scenarios is not the only concern. Once the stories have been written down, actors are needed to bring them to life on screen. And for the moment, no agreement in principle has been reached with the producers’ alliance. “We always want to obtain the necessary conditions for our members” SAG-AFTRA said. The actors’ union which also hopes to achieve the same negotiations.
With all this, there is a good chance that the sequel to the series The Last of Us will not be broadcast before 2025. This was the most optimistic window mentioned by Francesca Orsi in charge of HBO drama programs. The good news, however, is that the theory about Abby’s actress seems to be confirmed more and more. Which is sure to please some, and probably disappoint others.