HBO's The Last of Us has found it's Joel and Ellie

A report released by Deadline revealed that The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal has been cast as Joel in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Naughty Dog’s hit video game The Last of Us.

Pedro Pascal has previously worked with HBO on Game of Thrones, playing Dornish prince Oberyn Martell. Fellow Game of Thrones alumni Bella Ramsey, who played Lady of the Bear Island Lyanna Mormont in the show, has been cast to play Ellie in the adaptation.

A live-action adaptation of The Last of Us was initially announced as a movie in 2014, with Spider Man director Sam Raimi attached as executive producer along with the writer of the video game Neil Druckmann.

Production didn’t really progress much before the announcement that HBO were taking over the development of the property but now as a TV show. Neil Druckmann stayed on as an executive producer and was joined by Craig Mazin, who created and wrote for HBO’s Chernobyl. Mazin will also have writing contributions to the upcoming show.

The Last of Us is a story that follows Joel who has been hired to smuggle 14-year old Ellie across the US to safety, as the country is being ravaged by a zombie-like outbreak. The game was released as a PlayStation exclusive, and was developed by Naughty Dog, one of Sony’s major video game developers.

The gameplay of the 2013 game involves the player controlling Joel through the story, and the sequel ‘The Last of Us Part II’ allows you to take control of a now-older Ellie.

It is likely that the TV show may follow suit, with the first season telling much of the story through Joel’s perspective, before exploring the perspectives of the other characters in future seasons. Industry veteran Troy Baker voiced Joel in the game, with Ashley Johnson lending her voice to Ellie.

Bella Ramsey’s breakout performance as Lyanna Mormont put her in the spotlight, and is likely the reference HBO used to find the perfect actress for Ellie. Pascal’s stock has never been higher, with the actor fresh off the success of the second season of The Mandalorian, as well as playing the villain in the newest Wonder Woman movie. Kantemir Balagov will direct the pilot episode of the HBO show.