“The Last of Us”
That’s how successful the end times series is
© 2021 Home Box Office, Inc.
Production on the second season of “The Last of Us” will begin in a few weeks. The End Times series has already made history.
Nobody could ignore this series in 2023: “The Last of Us”. The series adaptation of the video game of the same name from Naughty Dog thrilled audiences worldwide at the beginning of the year and, among other things, had the second best series start of the past decade for HBO – after the “Game of Thrones” spin-off “House of the Dragon”. On the German “The Last of Us” home Sky, the series can even claim to be the most successful of the year.
According to the company, the first season of the end-time adventure stands out from well-known competition. For example, Sarah Jessica Parker’s, 58, cult character Carrie Bradshaw and her friends only come in second with the second season of the “Sex and the City” spin-off “And Just Like That…”. The fifth season of “The Rookie” lands on number three. Fourth place goes to the third season of the Sky original “Der Pass”, fifth place goes to season four of the in-house production “Das Boot”. All series are also available on the in-house streaming service Wow.
Second season and great streaming start
The first indications that HBO could have achieved another big success with “The Last of Us” after successes such as “Game of Thrones”, “Westworld” or “True Detective” were already in mid and late January 2023. “The Last of Us” got off to a great start – the second best since “Boardwalk Empire” around 13 years ago. The story about Joel and his quasi-foster daughter Ellie, who are played by the “Game of Thrones” stars Pedro Pascal, 48, and Bella Ramsey, 20, captivated an audience of millions in front of their screens.
Like this, among other things Industry magazine “Variety” reported at the time, a total of 4.7 million viewers tuned in to the premiere in the United States. Only the “Game of Thrones” spin-off “House of the Dragon” was more successful with almost ten million in the summer of 2022. “Game of Thrones” itself only later became a mega-hit and was around 10 million when it premiered in 2011 Attracted 4.2 million people to their television sets. And in Germany too, “The Last of Us” became the second best non-linear launch ever on Sky and Wow – after “House of the Dragon”.
A week after the premiere in the USA already 18 million people saw the first episode. The second episode also set a new record for the station: around 22 percent more viewers tuned in. This was the largest increase for an HBO drama series in the network’s history.
HBO and Sky Deutschland announced less than two weeks after the premiere episode was broadcast that there would also be a second season. But it will be a while before the new episodes appear. Due to the Hollywood double strike, there have been countless postponements at the dream factory in recent months. Accordingly, work on season two of “The Last of Us” has not yet started. Showrunner Craig Mazin, 52, has but now recently confirmedthat the new season will go into production from February 12, 2024.
Coronation at the Emmys?
The success of the series could be crowned by an evening in a few weeks: the 75th Emmy Awards will be presented on January 15, 2024. “The Last of Us” is considered one of the big favorites with 24 nominations, alongside “Succession” (27 nominations) and “The White Lotus” (23 nominations) – both also from HBO and shown on Sky/Wow. One of the coveted prizes could then be, among other things, best drama series, best casting or best special effects. In addition to Ramsey and Pascal, the cast of “The Last of Us” also includes Anna Torv, 44, Melanie Lynskey, 46, Lamar Johnson, 29, Storm Reid, 20, Murray Bartlett, 52, Nick Offerman, 53, and Keivonn Woodard hope.