The Last of Us Season 2 Was Targeting 2025 Debut Before Strike

It seems like The Last of Us fans waiting on Season 2 of the HBO show are going to be waiting quite awhile longer before the next season comes out. According to HBO's head of drama, Francesca Orsi, the second season of the show was initially targeting a release window of some time in 2025, though that was before the Writers Guild of America strike commenced. Now that that's in effect, that already distant release window is now in flux with Orsi saying that there's "some question about timing" when it comes to when this and other shows will continue.

Orsi spoke to Deadline about The Last of Us and other HBO shows in relation to the WGA strike. In her comments, Orsi said that everything is "pencils down" at the moment which has led HBO to reassess when these sorts of shows will get their next seasons.

"While everything at this moment is pencils down, I'm hopeful that we can come to terms sooner than later. Otherwise we will have to assess what is the end of the 24 schedule, what are the shows that are going to be delivered for 2025," Orsi said. "At this point, those shows that I'm looking to air wouldn't necessarily be ready if this strike last six to nine months. So yes, that's a big question for us, but I think we'll cross that road once we come to it."

The Last of Us wasn't mentioned specifically there, but in follow-up comments, Orsi confirmed that 2025 was the expected release window for the show until the WGA strike began.

"We were looking at The Last Of Us for some time in 2025," Orsi said. "And The White Lotus was ideally looking to go in 2024 but there's some question about timing of the strike."

Neil Druckmann, the creator of The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part 2 games as well as the co-creator and writer of the TV show, said previously that the creative team was months away, not years away, from starting work on the second season. Those comments were shared prior to the WGA strike, however, so plans will have naturally changed behind the scenes by now.