“The Last of Us” is set to head back into production in early 2024, HBO CEO Casey Bloys told press Thursday morning.
Filming for Season 2 of the video game adaptation is expected to pick up in the spring, should the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike be resolved by then. According to Bloys, production on the drama series’ second installment would have already been underway if not for the labor dispute.
“That was one that was also affected by the strikes that would have been in production already,” Bloys said of “The Last of Us” Season 2 at a New York City press event. Similar delays were felt across the network’s 2024 slate, including pushed productions for the “IT” prequel series, titled “Welcome to Derry,” and the third installment of Mike White’s “The White Lotus.”
“‘Welcome to Derry,’ we had that scheduled for Halloween of ’24 — That’s likely pushing into ’25,” Bloys said. “‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 probably would have been ’24,”
As the actors’ strike stretches well over its 100th day, Bloys revealed he, like many others across the entertainment industry, had been hoping for news of a resolution to come this week.
“I have had my fingers crossed all week that SAG settles because obviously we would all like to get back to work,” Bloys said, adding that he wants “everybody to come back to work happy.”
Despite remaining “hopeful” for an imminent resolution between the actors’ guild and the AMPTP, the HBO boss noted the network’s backup plan to continue shifting release dates should the work stoppage extend further.
“Obviously, if it continues, we’ve got plans … [that] involve moving some things,” Bloys continued. “There are some shows that I showed you that are available earlier than others, so we’ve got scenarios that we would employ but I’m really really hoping that that we don’t have to,” he continued, referencing early trailers screened to press at the event.
Premiering in January 2023, “The Last of Us” centers on post-apocalyptic survivors Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they grapple with remaining parts of society 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed.
The first episode of the series debuted to 4.7 million viewers across its linear and HBO Max platforms, marking HBO’s second-largest debut — behind only “House of the Dragon” — since “Boardwalk Empire” premiered on the network in 2010.
