HBO won’t be going cheap when it comes to its currently in production television adaptation of Naughty Dog’s celebrated video game “The Last of Us”.
Damian Petti is the president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees 212 union and recently sat down with CTV News to discuss the show which is filming with members of the union around Fort Macleod in Alberta.
He tells the outlet the series is spending the kind of money not really seen outside of “Game of Thrones” of Disney “Star Wars” series with each of its ten episodes clocking in at with a budget in the tens of millions:
“The Last of Us, which commences photography this week, is indeed a monster. 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.
I cannot confirm the official budget numbers but will say it is likely the largest project shooting in Canada. This project well exceeds the eight-figure per episode mark, so there is a multiplier effect on our economy in terms of its impact. There are hundreds of related businesses benefitting from the plethora of work.”
Macleod has been the site of productions like the “Fargo” series, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”. “The Last of Us” is executive produced and co-written by “Chernobyl” creator Craig Mazin and original game writer Neil Druckmann.
