According to a Calgary news report, HBO’s upcoming The Last of Us series has now started filming, and it is said to cost over USD 10 Million per episode.
Specifically, IATSE 212 artist union President Damian Petti said that the series “well exceeds the eight figure per episode mark.” Aside from the series’ massive budget, Petti also said that the HBO series is a massive project complete with five art directors and “an army of hundreds of technicians.”
Given that the series’ first season will have 10 episodes, this means The Last of Us will have a USD 100 million budget at the minimum. And given that the show’s per-episode cost is well over the eight figure mark, it’s likely that the show’s full budget is much more than 100 million dollars. For reference, HBO’s Game of Thrones costed USD 15 million per episode for its six-episode final season.
In case you’re unfamiliar, HBO’s The Last of Us is an upcoming TV series based on the PlayStation-exclusive game of the same name by Naughty Dog. The show will star Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey were as Joel and Ellie. HBO’s The Last of Us will also have Craig Mazin (of HBO’s Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann (director of the two Last of Us games) serve as showrunners.
Source: IGN