Momentum for the BC-filmed season 2 of HBO’s smash hit video game-adaption The Last of Us is building.
The trailer shown at the SXSW panel in Austin, Texas, last Saturday racked up 158 million global views in its first three days, a record for HBO originals.
Related: The Last of Us at SXSW – Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Kaitlyn Dever & a Trailer
What is The Last of Us?
Season one of The Last of Us took place 20 years after modern civilization had been destroyed by a fungal pandemic. Joel (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor, was hired to smuggle teen Ellie (Bella Ramsey) out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What started as a small job soon became a brutal, heartbreaking journey as they both traversed across the U.S. and depended on each other for survival.
We left Joel and Ellie in the season one finale overlooking Jackson, Wyoming, after Joel’s big lie about the events at the Firefly hospital in Salt Lake City: Joel rescued an anesthetized Ellie after murdering the doctors who were about to harvest her cells as a possible cure for the Cordyceps infection, in a procedure she would not have survived.
What’s coming in season 2?
Season 2 picks up five years after the events of season one, which chronicled Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey)’s trek across a post-apocalyptic, pandemic-scarred America. They are settled in the Jackson commune run by Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) and sister-in-law Maria (Rutina Wesley).
Ellie is, for once, enjoying a normal life as a teenager. She even has a crush on a girl named Dina (Isabela Merced), who happens to be the ex of her close friend, Jesse (Young Mazino).
However, there remains tension between her and Joel, who’s still grappling with the actions he took to save Ellie’s life on that cold Firefly hospital bed in the season 1 finale.
You swore — Ellie to Joel.
It’s during this time of relative peace when Abby Anderson arrives.
Kaitlyn Dever’s Abby Anderson.
Abby Anderson, who’s seeking vengeance for someone she loved, and her crew: soldier Manny (Danny Ramirez), doctor Mel (Ariela Barer), military medic Nora (Tati Gabrielle) and Owen (Spencer Lord).
Guest stars:
Catherine O’Hara as Joel’s therapist in Jackson; Jeffrey Wright as Washington Liberation Front (WLF) leader Isaac Dixon; Joe Pantoliano as Eugene, who grows cannabis in a lab; Robert John Burke as Seth, who runs a bar in Jackson; Noah Lamanna as Ellie’s ex-girlfriend Kat; Alanna Ubach as Hanrahan; Ben Ahlers as Burton; and Hettienne Park as Elise Park;
Production:
Jackson, Wyoming.
Production moved from Alberta to British Columbia for season 2 .and built a walled Jackson town set on private land at Minaty Bay near Britannia Beach on the Sea to Sky Highway.
Related: THE LAST OF US Season 2’s New Jackson Under Construction in British Columbia?
Bella Ramsey’s Ellie and Isabela Merced’s Dina on the Jackson set in Minaty Bay.
Seattle, Washington.
Ellie and Dina ride into Seattle, filmed last September at the University of British Columbia campus on a closed section of West 16th Avenue.
Related: THE LAST OF US Season 2: University of British Columbia Route as Highway into Seattle
The Last of Us Season 2:
Episodes: 7.
Working title: MEGA SWORD
B.C. filming dates: February 12 2024 – August 23 2024.
Additional photography in September 2024 and January 2025.
Co-Creators/Writers: Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann.
Pedro Pascal, Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann on set in Vancouver.
Directors: Craig Mazin, Mark Mylod, Peter Hoar, Kate Herron, Stephen Williams, Neil Druckmann, Nina Lopez-Corrado.
Cast: Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Rutina Wesley, Isabela Merced, Young Mazino, Kaitlyn Dever, Danny Ramirez, Ariela Barer, Tati Gabrielle, Spencer Lord.
Guest stars: Catherine o”Hara, Jeffrey Wright, Joe Pantoliano, Alanna Ubach, Ben Ahlers, Hettienne Park, Robert John Burke, Noah Lamanna.
Sound stages: Bridge Studios.
The Last of Us season 2 premieres April 13th on HBO and Crave (in Canada).