HBO's The Last of Us TV show signs up Chernobyl director

(Image credit: Sony / Naughty Dog)

Well, it was never going to be sunshine and daffodils, was it? As if you were in any doubt of the tone HBO's upcoming The Last of Us TV show was going to take, it's just been announced that the pilot episode is going to be directed by Johan Renck, who helmed five episodes of Chernobyl.

“I’m an executive producer on it and attached to it," Renck said in an interview with Discussing Film

"I’m part of that series and I will be directing at least the pilot. Then we’ll see how it goes on further.”

Renck joins Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin on the project, who is set to co-write and executive produce the series alongside Neil Druckman, the writer and executive director of the game itself.

A faithful adaptation?

With Druckman on board, and the Chernobyl tag-team talent in place, The Last of Us TV show looks set to be a very faithful adaptation of the game. Its grim pallette and post apocalyptic tale is a perfect fit for the Chernobyl duo, who took a real world tragedy and instilled it with anger, humanity and an unflinching view of an awful event. It's considered one of the best TV shows of all time for good reason, meaning we could finally have a good gaming adaptation on our hands.

The TV series is set to follow the events of the first game in the series, with haggard smuggler Joel tasked with escorting teenage orphan Ellie across a diseased United States to uncover the secret she carries.

With The Last of Us: Part 2's release just over the horizon, it's a good time to be a fan of the series.

Gerald Lynch

Gerald is Editor-in-Chief of iMore.com. Previously he was the Executive Editor for TechRadar, taking care of the site's home cinema, gaming, smart home, entertainment and audio output. He loves gaming, but don't expect him to play with you unless your console is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system. Before TechRadar, Gerald was Editor of Gizmodo UK. He is also the author of 'Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future', published by Aurum Press.