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The Last of Us loses its co-creator as the HBO show heads into its third season
Neil Druckmann, who co-created both the HBO show and the original game, is stepping down from co-showrunning The Last of Us TV show
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As if the loss of Pedro Pascal in its second season wasn’t enough of a traumatic loss for fans of HBO’s The Last Of Us, the show will have to deal with another absence in its third season: Neil Druckmann, who’s served as showrunner for the show’s first two seasons, is stepping down from his position going forward.
Craig Mazin, who’s worked with Druckmann as co-creator and co-showrunner to this point, will serve as sole showrunner as the show heads into its third season; Druckmann will continue to have an executive producer credit and co-creator credit, according to The Hollywood Reporter. News of the departure was originally reported by The Ankler.
Druckmann, who co-created and wrote the original game The Last of Us, released a statement explaining his departure. “I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my creative involvement in The Last of Us on HBO,” he wrote. “With work completed on season 2 and before any meaningful work starts on season 3, now is the right time for me to transition my complete focus to Naughty Dog and its future projects, including writing and directing our exciting next game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, along with my responsibilities as Studio Head and Head of Creative. Co-creating the show has been a career highlight. It’s been an honor to work alongside Craig Mazin to executive produce, direct and write on the last two seasons. I’m deeply thankful of the thoughtful approach and dedication the talented cast and crew took to adapting The Last of Us Part I and their continued adaptation of The Last of Us Part II. I look forward to HBO and PlayStation Productions continuing Ellie and Abby’s story next season.”
While the show has remained a critical success for HBO and HBO Max in its recently-concluded second season, viewership dropped 30% during the season. The first two seasons remain available to stream on HBO Max. No release date has been announced for the show’s return.
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