HBO’s The Last Of Us TV Series Announced with New Director
Chernobyl director Johan Renck was the first director of the pilot episode for The Last Of Us TV Series. But, because of the scheduling conflict, a new director has announced.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov has been set to direct the pilot episode of the video game The Last Of Us.
Let’s get to know Balagov a little. Balagov is well known for directing the Russian-language dramas Closeness and Beanpole.
Closeness, about a poor family in a tiny town dealing with an abducting, was well-received when it appeared at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017, bringing in Balagov winning the FIPRESCI Prize in the Un Certain Regard competition.
Beanpole is a movie about the dark and complicated relationship between two women at the end of the Second World War’s Siege of Leningrad. The 2019 movie won Balagov the Un Certain Regard award for the best director and his second FIPRESCI Prize. The film was also chosen as Russia’s best international film category for the 2020 Academy Awards.
The Last Of Us is set 20 years after modern civilization and focuses on the relationship between Joel and Ellie. Joel the survivor, is hired to smuggle the 14-year-old young lady out of a quarantine zone. What begins as a small job turns into a severe, heartbreaking journey as they cross the U.S. and rely upon one another for survival.
The series is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and game developer Naughty Dog. Also executive producing are Carolyn Strauss, Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells, and Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan of PlayStation Productions.
The marriage of Balagov and The Last Of Us shows that HBO is focusing on a serious dramatic tone for the adaptation.
