Parks and Recreation’s Nick Offerman has joined the cast of ‘The Last of Us’, an upcoming HBO adaptation of the popular Play Station Game of the same name. The actor will replace Con O’Neill, who is leaving the role due to scheduling conflict, as Bill.
The series is based on Naughty Dog’s award-winning video game for the Play Station. ‘The Last of Us’ takes place 20 years after modern civilization have ended (destroyed by a deadly virus). The story revolves around Joel (Pedro Pascal), a hardened survivor, hired to take Ellie (Murray Ramsey), a 14-year-old girl, out of a quarantine zone to the Fireflies, a cure-searching organization.
The journey becomes brutal and heartbreaking as they both travel across the U.S. and depend on each other for survival. They both later meet Bill (Nick Offerman), who aids Joel and Ellie on their way to meet the Fireflies. In the original video game, Bill crafts weapons and traps to help Joel and Ellie keep runners, stalkers and the rest of the undead at bay.
The cast of ‘The Last of Us’ also includes Gabriel Luna as Joel’s brother Tommy, Nico Parker as Joel’s daughter Sarah, Merle Dandridge, who has reprised her video game role of Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies resistance group struggling to take control from the government’s military regime.
Neil Druckmann, a writer and creative director for the video game, will write and produce the series alongside ‘Chernobyl’ creator Craig Mazin. Carolyn Strauss, Rose Lam, Naughty Dog president Evan Wells and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan will also executive produce the HBO adaptation of the game.
The pilot episode of ‘The Last of Us’ will be directed by Kantemir Balagov, Jasmila Žbanić and Ali Abbasi. The project is a co-production of Sony Pictures Television, PlayStation Productions, Word Games, and Naughty Dog.
‘The Last of Us’ series has not been given a release date so far but rumors circulating on the net say that the show won’t arrive on screen until early 2022.
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