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Back in June, we reported that Chernobyl‘s Johan Renck was announced to direct the highly anticipated The Last of Us series on HBO. Unfortunately, Renck has dropped off the project due to scheduling issues, but a new director has stepped in to take his place: Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov.

Balagov is best know for his work on the Cannes Film Festival favorite Beanpole, which won the Un Certain Regard Best Director Award, the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film, and it was selected as the Russian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards.

Beanpole currently enjoys a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic rating of 84/100. This speaks volumes toward Balagov’s directorial talents and looks promising for the HBO series.

Although Renck has left the project, his fellow Chernobyl colleague Craig Mazin is still set to collaborate with the video game’s writer Neil Druckmann to keep The Last of Us on track. While a cast list has yet to be announced, we do know that the series will follow Joel and Ellie through a harsh post-pandemic world, just as in the games.

With Balagov, Mazin, and Druckmann on board, along with Game of Thrones‘ and Chernobyl‘s Carolyn Strauss in the producer seat, we anticipate an epic drama.

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