Great news for anyone worried about the sonic immersiveness of HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation: Gustavo Santaolalla, who composed the soundtrack for both The Last of Us and its upcoming sequel, will be returning to score the series.
Neil Druckmann, the game’s writer and creative director, made the announcement via Twitter. Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin, who’s teaming up with Druckmann to adapt (and also executive produce), tweeted in celebration as well.
Well this is exciting! Beyond lending his incredible musical talent to The Last of Us Part II, Gustavo Santaolalla is joining us to bring over The Last of Us to HBO!
— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) March 11, 2020
It's not TLOU if it's not Gustavo… https://t.co/kPiBd8zOXI
— Craig Mazin (@clmazin) March 11, 2020
Santaolalla has composed the soundtrack for dozens of films and TV shows, from Hell on Wheels and Jane the Virgin to Before the Flood and Making a Murderer. He’s also won or been nominated for a good number of awards, including two Oscars for Brokeback Mountain and Babel.
As was announced last week, Carolyn Strauss and Evan Wells, president of the game’s developer Naughty Dog, will be executive producing as well. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the storyline will cover everything from the first game, with possible plot points taken from The Last of Us Part II, which comes out in May. It is intended to be “the first of many shows” developed with PlayStation Productions and Sony Pictures Television.
There’s no word yet on a release date or casting news, although fans seem to favor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Hugh Jackman for Joel and Kaitlyn Dever and Sophia Lillis for Ellie.