The Naughty Dog co-president and creative director will take his place as one of five directors for the first season, VGC picked up today. The first season is expected to tackle the events that happened in the first game – with maybe some content from The Last of Us, Part II making it’s way in, too – so it makes sense that Druckmann (who has been intimately involved with the series at Naughty Dog as a writer since it first appeared in 2013) will take up directorial duties on the show. We previously knew that Druckmann and Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin would executive produce the series alongside Carolyn Strauss (Chernobyl, Game of Thrones), Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells, and PlayStation Productions’ Qizilbash and Carter Swan. But the revelation that Druckmann will direct some episodes si wholly new. Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov will direct the pilot for the adaptation, setting the scene for what’s to come. The whole show has also been written by Neil Druckmann. HBO’s TV adaptation will also star Pedro Pascal as Joel, and Bella Ramsey cast as Ellie. Pascal is known for playing Oberyn Martell in HBO’s Game of Thrones and as the protagonist in Disney’s The Mandalorian. Ramsey was also in Game of Thrones and starred as Lyanna Mormont. The actor who portrayed Marlene in The Last of Us games, Merle Dandridge, will reprise the role in HBO’s series, too. Since the show is still in the early stages of production, an air date has not been set, though it’s expected to wrap filming in June 2022.
