HBO has confirmed that its hit series The Last of Us is moving filming from Calgary, Alta., to Vancouver for its second season.
The show, which stars Pedro Pascal of The Mandalorian and Bella Ramsey of Game of Thrones as Joel and Ellie, respectively, is based on the hit video game of the same name.
The show is set in a post-apocalyptic world 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. In the video game series, Joel and Ellie seek to survive as they are pursued by mutated humans infected by a parasitic fungus.
HBO hasn't officially disclosed the budget for the series, though the New Yorker reported in late 2022 that it exceeded the amount for each of the first five seasons of the fantasy series Game of Thrones. Those seasons reportedly ranged between $6 to $8 million per episode before increasing to $10 million per episode at the start of the sixth season.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and Vancouver film commissioner Geoff Teoli are scheduled to comment on the production moving to the West Coast at a news conference Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. PT.
The series began shooting in the summer of 2021, wrapping production around a year later. In that time, it filmed at several Calgary locations, including Mount Royal University and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. Scenes were also shot in Okotoks, High River, Fort Macleod and in Edmonton, where the Alberta Legislature was covered in vines.
