Russian director born in the 1990s will direct HBO's "The Last of Us" series

HBO's The Last of Us series has officially got a new director, with Oscar-nominated film Beanpole director Kantemir Balagov set to helm the series.

"The Tall Man" is a story about two women in Leningrad after World War II. It shows the mental and physical trauma brought by World War II from a female perspective. It was selected by Russia to compete for the 92nd Academy Award for Best International Film in 2020, but unfortunately lost to the South Korean film "Parasite". However, this film helped director Balagov win the Best Director Award at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

Balagov also directed the 2017 film "Closeness". On the wedding night when the whole family was celebrating, the bride and groom disappeared all night. Soon, the kidnapping threat came like a nightmare. The ransom was so high that the sister, who was struggling to make a living in the family workshop, was completely unable to afford it. However, for the sake of her beloved brother and the family's face, she had to use all means within a limited time to raise life-saving money in the traditional closed Jewish tribe...

Foreign media believes that the Russian director has a melancholic aesthetic, which may be one of the reasons why HBO chose to hire him, perhaps to ensure that the film has a dark tone to match the tragic story of the original game. On the other hand, he may be more compatible with the screenwriter and producer of the series, Craig Mazin. Mazin's Chernobyl is also very gloomy in terms of visuals and themes.

According to previous reports, HBO's "The Last of Us" series will reunite "Chernobyl" director Johan Renck and screenwriter Mazin to shoot at least the first episode, but THR reported that Renck had to withdraw due to schedule conflicts.

The Last of Us series was announced by HBO in November last year, and the game's creative director and screenwriter Neil Druckmann will also write the script for the series and serve as producer.

The Last of Us series is just the beginning of Sony's game IP adaptation into film and television. Last December, Sony announced that the studio is developing 7 series and 3 movies, all based on Sony's own PlayStation game IP.

Kantemir Balagov's profile on Douban