The Last Of Us Series Gets a New Director

HBO has hired a new director to helm its upcoming adaptation of the hit video game The Last of Us. The project is being developed by Craig Mazin, the creator of HBO’s Chernobyl. He wrote and is executive producing with Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of the game.

The project was originally going to be helmed by Chernobyl director Johan Renck, but he had to drop out because of a scheduling conflict. He has since been replaced with Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov, who directed the drama Beanpole. Balagov will direct the pilot for the adaptation.

HBO is apparently aiming for a serious dramatic tone for the adaptation, which makes sense if you’ve played the game. The rest of the production team includes Carolynn Strauss (Chernobyl) and Carter Swan along with Evan Wells of Naughty Dog and Asad Qizilbash from PlayStation Productions.