HBO’s television adaptation of The Last of Us is not just some cheap tie-in – apparently it could be the “largest project” shooting in Canada right now. That’s according to IATSE 212 president Damian Petti, who’s in charge of the group responsible for attracting Hollywood crews to Alberta. Speaking with Forbes, he elaborated that – while he obviously can’t disclose specifics – “this project well exceeds the eight figure per episode mark”.
While it’s unclear whether he’s referring to Canadian dollars or US dollars – presumably the former – it would still put the project in the reach of Game of Thrones, which reportedly ramped up to $15 million (USD) per episode for its final season. “The Last of Us which commences photography this week is indeed a monster,” he said in an interview with CTV News. “It has five art directors and employs an army of hundreds of technicians. It has had six months of prep and shoots (in Alberta) for 12 months.”
Work is currently underway transforming parts of Fort Macleod to accommodate the series, with shop fronts being altered by artists. But it’s all work that natives are welcoming due to the injection it’s bringing to the local economy: “We believe in the economic benefits and the diversification needed in Alberta and filming is definitely one of the ways to make that happen,” the town’s Chief Administrative Officer Sue Keenan said.
This is going to be big.
[source calgary.ctvnews.ca, via forbes.com]
Comments 22
The Witcher proved games into TV series works when done right and clearly HBO has experience with successful series.
Let’s hope they do this justice too.
Is Michael Bay directing this all of a sudden?
With Craig Mazin (creator of Chernobyl) and this budget combined could be a huge hit in the making. Also HBO quality control and having Neil and PlayStation working on it is a big plus. Can't wait!
Hopefully all this wildfire smoke doesn’t impede filming too much. The glass half full part of me thinks it may create a desirable post apocalyptic effect. Either way, thrilled to have this production in Alberta. Hope everyone feels welcome and enjoys their stay.
With any video game adaptation I make sure to keep my expectations low. However if it does turn out to be any good, I'll be sure to check it out.
Wow that's a massive budget per episode. Alberta is such a lovely province in Canada, will hopefully be able to go back next year. Was supposed to go just before the pandemic hit so been waiting a while to get back to Canada, one of the loveliest places I have visited especially Banff.
@Jimmer-jammer ya that's a good point I never thought of that. I'm located east of Toronto and I was told that the hazy weather we got yesterday was due to those fires so I can only imagine what it's like closer to that location.
Hope all stays safe over there.
Can't wait to check this out.
If someone can pull off TLOU, it is HBO.
@rumple1980 yeah it’s still quite smoky here so I imagine you may have a few more hazy days coming your way. Thanks for that! Lytton, B.C. was tragically wiped off the map recently so I can’t complain too much over here. Hopefully western Canada gets some meaningful rain soon. Cheers!
This show will do well I think. Looking forward to it.
I imagine a good chunk of that is to pay for Pascal. <Insert Mugatu gif here>
I have a feeling this isn't going to work as well as they hoped. I think it's going to have trouble making it's money back, or at least that much of a profit.
Mind boggling sums of money
@Kienda The Witcher had more than the games to work with.
It does seem like some real effort is going into this at the very least so I will at the very least give it a chance. Craig Mazin being involved also give me a bit more hope but I'm keeping my expectations pretty low.
This is great for the local economy and sounds very exciting. I hope Neil D. does not try and re-write the original story/ themes into something more politically motivated and divisive. The original story was a masterpiece.
@Panic_Attache I understand, but the look and feel of the word was clearly influenced by the game.
They even took scenes like the bathtub scene from the game. So I think it is fair to say that it is a video game adaption (but with story from books).
Clickers aren't cheap.
Hmmm throwing money at stuff doesn't necessarily make it good, but I suppose I will watch it nayway. My half uncle lives in Alberta, never met him, though. I have a friend in Ontario, though and it's lovely there, too.
Most of that budget is on bricks and bottles for Joel and Ellie to throw.
@Jaz007
"I have a feeling this isn't going to work as well as they hoped. I think it's going to have trouble making it's money back, or at least that much of a profit"
I don't think you understand how TV works. There's many ways for them to make the money back easy, there's ads, as this is a premium show big name brands will want to be onboard. HBO also have over 41 million subscribers paying $9.99 a month (with ads) and $14.99 (without ads). The release of just ONE movie, Wonder Woman 1984 drove their subs up by 3.5 million, this show could add to the subs massively.
Then there's sales to different countries which will bring in heaps of $$, and if it reaches four seasons it'll then (no doubt) be syndicated to terrestrial channels which again will bring in much $$. Then there's product placement which will add another hefty wedge to the profit bucket...
i dont hold much hope for this, will people who not know the game just think just another zombie show, knowing our luck be cancelled after first episode, its all reality tv cheap made big cash return. not a fan of reality tv shows , lot of good shows got cancelled because of lack of ratings they dont give shows a chance.
bring grimm back!
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