Francesca Orsi, Co-Executive Vice President and Head of Drama at HBO, has spilled the beans on what we can expect from the TV adaptation of The Last of Us, past season two.
And in the process, I’m pretty sure Orsi just confirmed that the final season of the show will move beyond the events of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II.
Orsi recently sat down with Deadline's Nellie Andreeva to offer some updates on HBO’s White Lotus, Game of Thrones and The Last of Us.
Deadline quizzed Orsi on when exactly they plan to bring The Last of Us to a close, and her comments more than imply that there’s a little bit left in the tank beyond the conclusion of The Last of Us Part II.
“We don’t have a complete or final plan, but I think it’s looking like four seasons,” Orsi revealed.
“I wouldn’t want to confirm that, but it’s looking like this season and then two more seasons after this and we’re done.”
As Andreeva notes, this echoes a similar statement made by both co-creators/executive producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann last year.
Now, I think this could mean three separate things.
Firstly, they could spend three seasons covering the events of The Last of Us Part II. It’s a narratively dense game, so that’s not impossible, but I think it’s unlikely.
Secondly, it could mean that the showrunners have an original conclusion, beyond the events of The Last of Us Part II, planned out. I think this one is probably the most likely.
However, there is a secret third possibility: this could mean that we’ll get The Last of Us Part III before the fourth season of the show airs.
The last one is a bit out there, especially considering that Naughty Dog is currently hard at work on a completely new game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, that is expected to release sometime in either 2026 or 2027.
But is it possible that, prior to a potential fourth season of the TV adaptation, Naughty Dog could manage to release Part III of The Last of Us? Ehh, maybe?
Look, games take a long time to develop these days. Let’s say, at the earliest, Naughty Dog starts work on a potential Part III in 2026.
Filming for the first season of The Last of Us began in 2021. Production on the second season started in 2024 (although it was delayed by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike).
That would probably mean that production on the third season could begin sometime in 2026. If we’re generous and say that the third season could air in 2028, that doesn’t exactly leave Naughty Dog much time to finish work on a third The Last of Us video game.
Unless Naughty Dog has been secretly working on The Last of Us Part III this whole time, I think that’s too tight of a gap (assuming that production on a fourth season of The Last of Us would begin in 2029 and potentially air in 2030).
That was a pretty long-winded way of saying “I doubt it” but hey, I’d love to be proven wrong.
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