It’s official, dear readers! Joel and Ellie will be hitting our TV screens in a whole new way!

At around noon on Thursday, March 5th, game developer Naughty Dog tweeted out the following:

YUP! Naughty Dog will be bringing The Last of Us, the story of a world infected by a deadly fungal pandemic to a television series format. The rumors of a project like this (movie or otherwise) have been rumbling around Hollywood for some time. No one, however, was seemingly able to make it gain the kind of traction it needed (much to the chagrin of fans). The kicker here, is that a TV series is not only less of a financial risk, but also offers more time to develop the characters, world, and narrative that an incredible game like The Last of Us inspires.

If you were living under a rock in 2013 and honestly have no idea what this game is about, The Last of Us centers on two survivors of a worldwide fungal pandemic. Joel, a jaded smuggler who doesn’t trust anyone easily and keeps his emotions hidden, and Ellie, a brash and headstrong teenager who just might hold the key to developing a cure for the infection.

The show’s development team showed their excitement at the project with their comments today:

Neil Druckmann definitely seemed ready to jump headfirst into the writing, as he stated, “From the first time I sat down to talk with Craig [Mazin] I was equally blown away by his approach to narrative and his love and deep understanding of The Last of Us. With Chernobyl, Craig and HBO created a tense, harrowing, emotional masterpiece. I couldn’t think of better partners to bring the story of The Last of Us to life as a television show.”

Casey Bloys, HBO Programming President, also added to the gushing comments with, “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to partner with Craig, Neil, Carolyn, and the teams at Sony, Naughty Dog, and Playstation to bring the virtual world of this acclaimed game to life.”

Craig Mazin commented, “Neil Druckmann is without question the finest storyteller working in the video game medium, and The Last of Us is his magnum opus. Getting a chance to adapt this breathtaking work of art has been a dream of mine for years, and I’m so honored to do it in partnership with Neil.”

Stepping into both the EP & writer roles will be Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin, and the original writer & creative director of The Last of Us, Neil Druckmann. Also taking on executive producer duties will be Carolyn Strauss and Naughty Dog’s president, Evan Wells.

This is incredibly exciting news for those of us who loved The Last of Us and who have been champing at the bit to get our hands on The Last of Us Part II. Getting a chance to see this incredible world and story literally fleshed out with live actors has the potential to blow viewers away. It will hopefully also get more people interested in this vivid and amazing story of survival, hard choices, and family.

This project will also give current fans of the franchise more to look forward to after we get our hands on The Last of Us Part II, which drops exclusively on Playstation 4 on May 29, 2020.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the news of a sequel based on this amazing game, dear readers. Leave us a comment down below, or hit us up on Facebook & Twitter to let us know!