The Last of Us‘ first season was released on HBO earlier this year, and it was nominated for 24 Emmys, including one for Outstanding Drama Series. Fans of the series are eager for it to return, and to find out how things play out for Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey). Due to the recent WGA and SAG strikes, many productions were put on hold this year, but things seem to be getting back on track now that they’ve come to an end. In fact, a new report from Variety confirms the second season of The Last of Us will be heading into production pretty soon.
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According to the report, The Last of Us is expected to go into production on the second season starting February 12th. Showrunner Craig Mazin shared the production start date during “A Night in the Writers’ Room,” a panel featuring writers from big shows such as The Last of Us, The Morning Show, The Curse, The Gilded Age, Silo, The Diplomat, and Justified: City Primeval. You can watch all of the writers together here.
When Is The Last of Us Season 2 Being Released?
While The Last of Us‘ production start date has been revealed, it is currently unclear when the series will be back. Mazin appeared on Entertainment Weekly‘s The Awardist podcast earlier this year and spoke about preparing for the new season ahead of the strikes.
“We were able to map out all of Season 2,” Mazin said. “And I also wrote and submitted the script for the first episode and sent it in [to HBO] around 10:30 or 10:40 PM right before the midnight [makes a “kajoomph” sound] and the strike began.”
Mazin noted that by getting The Last of Us Season 2 mapped out and the first script finished, the show would be able to keep “below-the-line crew members” employed and working through the strike.
“To the extent that we can keep anybody below the line working, that’s fantastic,” Mazin explained. “I think it’s becoming essentially a near certainty that we won’t be able to start [filming] when we were hoping to start, which is upsetting. We are all raring to go. This is what we are born to do. This is how we not only choose to live our lives, but I believe [how we] are compelled to live our lives. Otherwise, why the hell would we do this insane job? I can assure you it’s not for money.”
Stay tuned for more updates about The Last of Us.
