HBO television series ‘The Last of Us’ takes over parts of Edmonton

A major HBO television series is taking over some Edmonton streets.

HBO is filming a new series based on a popular video game called The Last of Us, and the multi-million-dollar TV production is filming its first season all over Alberta.

The production is not only transforming some areas of the city to look post-apocalyptic but it’s also bringing in some big opportunities.

Downtown, Rice Howard Way looks like the end of the world, but Edmontonians walking by say the apocalypse never looked so good.

“I think that’s really cool this is happening in our city right now. The kids are really interested in it. They think that this is exciting,” passerby Amber Wenzel said.

“Pretty cool, I’d say. You don’t always get to see something like it,” passerby Haven Wenzel said.

The critically acclaimed video game is about a smuggler named Joel, who is tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, out of an oppressive quarantine zone and across post-apocalyptic America.

The show stars Game of Thrones actors Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey.

To set the scene, structures like the legislature building and streets have been transformed.

“We’ve got thousands of people working on this project, from small communities to large communities, and right now, they are in Edmonton. They’ve got the legislature that they are filming in,” Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation Doug Schweitzer said.

Schweitzer said this is the largest television production in Canadian history.

“HBO’s The Last of Us, their projected budget for Alberta is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, so this is a big, big project.”

“I think it’s great for all Albertans because it’s an economic boost for things like tourism, investment, and many companies thrive,” IATSE 212 vice-president Damian Petti said.

The minister said film industry investment in Alberta has doubled over last year, and he anticipates more projects will be headed our way.

It’s welcome news to an industry hit hard by COVID-19: Petti said earlier this year, there were no productions happening at all for about nine months at the beginning of the pandemic.

“We fixed our television film and tax credit. Now, we attract these larger projects like The Last of Us, and it’s just been a win. They’ve shown up, they’ve delivered and they are creating jobs in Alberta, and it’s amazing to see this investment happen,” Schweitzer said.

“I think we will see more and more. It’s my goal to help to bring that to Edmonton. We are a great place to do business,” Edmonton Screen Industries Office CEO Tom Viinikka said.

The Last of Us production began in the Calgary area this past July and is scheduled to continue through to the summer of 2022.

The video game by developer Naughty Dog sold more than 17 million copies and won hundreds of awards in its industry. It also inspired The Last of Us Part II, a sequel released last year.

— With files from Karen Bartko, Global News