HBO's The Last Of Us TV Show Finds New Director

The Last of Us TV show adaptation being undertaken by HBO lost its original director, Chernobyl's Johan Renck, back in November. Now, though, the series has found someone new to helm the episodes.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kantemir Balagov has been hired to direct the series. This will be the first TV series for the Russian director, best known for the 2019 film Beanpole, which earned him some acclaim at the Cannes film festival. Balagov will work with writer and executive producer Craig Mazin, as well as creative director of the game Neil Druckmann, who will also serve as a writer on the show.

One group that is looking forward to Balagov's new role? The Russian government. It posted a message on the official Russia Twitter account, congratulating him on his position and sharing some screenshots from the game. Given the importance of LGBT themes in the series and Russia's history of discrimination against the community, it's a curious post.

Based on what we know so far, the series looks to be set surrounding the events of the first game in the video game franchise. A description released by WarnerMedia reads, "The story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival."

However, Mazin previously said the series will introduce characters and events not featured in the games. Perhaps the show will be set somewhere between The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II. A gap during this period is addressed in the second game in certain flashback scenes. However, there is still plenty we don't see during this period.

At this point, there is no release date for HBO's The Last of Us--or even a cast announcement.