The Last Of Us trailer: the apocalypse is here in our first look at HBO's mega-budget adaptation

The first trailer for The Last Of Us, the long-awaited and much-anticipated adaptation of Naughty Dog's hugely successful videogame, has arrived. Click below to watch it:

The series, which was first announced in March 2020, stars The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal and British rising star Bella Ramsey. It takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed by a deadly virus. 

We follow Pascal's Joel, a veteran survivor who is hired to smuggle Ramsey's Ellie out of an oppressive quarantine zone to the Fireflies, an organization who are searching for a cure for the virus.  Together the pair must travel across America, depending on each other for survival as they go. 

The show is expected to follow the story of the first game, with elements of the 2020 sequel thrown in, though Neil Druckmann, co-president of Naughty Dog and co-writer on the show, has previously suggested that some episodes will “deviate greatly” from the source material.

With a budget of over $155 million dollars, the show is one of HBO's tentpoles for 2023 and has been overseen by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin alongside Druckmann. 

Starring alongside Pascal and Ramsey are Merle Dandridge, Gabriel Luna, Nico Parker, Anna Torv, Nick Offerman and Storm Reid. 

The trailer, which has been released to coincide with The Last Of Us Day, a day that celebrates the game and its legacy, doesn't give much away in terms of a release date, only that we can expect it on HBO Max and NOW TV in 2023. 

While it's difficult to plan ahead, especially with HBO's parent company Warner Bros. Discovery having canceled so many projects in 2022, it is expected that follow-up seasons for the show are being planned and The Last of Us will not be released as a standalone mini-series. 

For information on the series, you can read our in-depth preview here.