We now know who will direct HBO's The Last of Us TV series.
It seems that The Last of Us has found its director. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov will be directing the series. Craig Mazin of Chernobyl fame will still write and executive produce the series alongside Neil Druckmann, the writer and creative director of The Last of Us. It had originally looked as if Mazin would reunite with the director of Chernobyl, Johan Renck. However, Renck had to drop out of the project due to a scheduling conflict.
Balagov is best known for for directing the dramas Closeness and Beanpole. Closeness, which has a poor family in a small town deal with a kidnapping, was well-received when it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. The film won Balagov the festival's FIPRESCI Prize in the Un Certain Regard competition. Balagov then released Beanpole in 2019. The film tells of the dark relationship between two women in the aftermath of the Second World War's Siege of Leningrad. The movie won the Un Certain Regard award for best director, and nabbed Balagov his second FIPRESCI award. Beanpole was chosen as Russia's submission in the best international feature film category for the 2020 Academy Awards.
Not much is known about HBO's The Last of Us. The show is expected to tell the events of the first game, though there is word that some aspects of the second title will find their way into the series. However, it has been announced that Gustavo Santaolalla will write the music for the TV series. Santaolalla wrote the music for both The Last of Us and The Last of Us Part II.
The Last of Us will release on HBO and HBO Max. The Last of Us originally released for the PlayStation 3 in 2013. The Last of us Part II released last year for the PlayStation 4.
