HBO's THE LAST OF US Series Gets a New Director with Kantemir Balagov

HBO has hired a new director to helm its upcoming adaptation of the hit video game The Last of Us. The project is being developed by Craig Mazin, the creator of HBO’s acclaimed limited series Chernobyl. He wrote and is executive producing with Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of the game.

The project was originally going to be helmed by Chernobyl director Johan Renck, but he had to drop out because of a scheduling conflict. He has since been replaced with Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, who directed the drama Beanpole. Balagov will direct the pilot for the adaptation.

It’s said that HBO is “aiming for a serious dramatic tone for the adaptation.” The rest of the production team includes Carolynn Strauss (Chernobyl) and Carter Swan along with Evan Wells of Naughty Dog and Asad Qizilbash from PlayStation Productions.

Here’s the synopsis that was previously shared for the series:

Based on the critically acclaimed video game “The Last of Us,” developed by Naughty Dog exclusively for the PlayStation® platforms, the story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

When previously talking about the series, HBO’s Francesca Orsi said:

Craig and Neil are visionaries in a league of their own. With them at the helm alongside the incomparable Carolyn Strauss, this series is sure to resonate with both die-hard fans of ‘The Last of Us’ games and newcomers to this genre-defining saga. We’re delighted to partner with Naughty Dog, Word Games, Sony and PlayStation to adapt this epic, powerfully immersive story.

I’m not really familiar with Balagov’s work, but I’m pretty excited to see how this series turns out.