Everyone Is Worried HBO's The Last Of Us Series Will Be Cancelled
Although HBO's live-action The Last of Us series is poised to be our next big TV addiction on a par with Game of Thrones or Amazon's upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, there are worrying rumbles it could be cancelled.
Following the release of The Last of Us in 2013, the idea of a live-action adaptation quickly started doing the rounds. As early as 2014, Screen Gems was working on a movie with the legendary Sam Raimi and Game Director, Neil Druckmann. Alongside a proposed animated outing, it fell into development hell, but is the same about to happen in 2023?
Why Are We Worried About The Last Of Us Series?
It's been something of a devastating week for Warner Bros., as a massive restructure has thrown the entertainment industry into disarray. The merger of AT&T and Discovery should've been on a par with Disney buying Fox, but instead, the newly formed Warner Discovery is being forced to restructure just months after it was formed. The big casualty everyone is talking about is Batgirl, with the long-awaited comic book movie being axed after filming had wrapped.
Things get a little complicated when trying to figure out how this could affect The Last of Us, but it all boils down to Warner Discovery owning HBO Max - where Batgirl was supposed to exclusively air. If those at the top are willing to can a movie that's already cost $90 million, then what hope does anything else have? From The Last of Us to Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon, everyone is a little nervous right now.
TheWrap reports that HBO Max is in a lot of trouble right now. The site claims that 70% of the HBO Max development team will be let go, while more projects are due to be killed as "tax write-downs." Given that The Last of Us is billed as the biggest television production to ever grace Canada, it's sure to put it in some uncomfortable crosshairs. Another nail in the undead coffin is that HBO Max will apparently move away from scripted content.
Will The Last Of Us Release In 2023?
Before you start weeping like you've just seen a certain golf club scene from The Last of Us Part II, it's important to differentiate between HBO and HBO Max. HBO Max shows like Peacemaker and Harley Quinn are made specifically for the streaming service, while HBO shows like The Last of Us are also expected to air on TV. Basically, The Last of Us should be safe...for now. The question of whether we'll get that multi-season arc is a little harder to answer.
As The Last of Us only looks like it's following a relatively small part of the first game, it's easy to see it being spun out for multiple seasons. HBO shows are rarely a one-and-done, and if Westworld can get four seasons, surely there's more for The Last of Us? More news is expected to be announced by Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav today (August 4), and if it's not bad news, here's hoping we might actually get a release date for The Last of Us.
