Latest news with #TheLastOfUs'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
HBO's Harry Potter Series Casts Harry, Ron & Hermione
The HBO Harry Potter series has found its three leads. Newcomers Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton have been cast as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They will play the starring roles in a TV epic that will span at least a decade. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint did the same for the hit blockbuster movies. More from Deadline 'Harry Potter' TV Series Due To Hit HBO In 2026: Everything We Know About The Cast, Who's Creating It, What J.K. Rowling Says & More Ralph Fiennes Set For Villain Role Of President Snow In 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' 'The Last Of Us' Season 2 Finale Draws 3.7 Million Cross-Platform U.S. Viewers For HBO Showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod said: 'After an extraordinary search led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, we are delighted to announce we have found our Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The talent of these three unique actors is wonderful to behold, and we cannot wait for the world to witness their magic together onscreen. We would like to thank all the tens of thousands of children who auditioned. It's been a real pleasure to discover the plethora of young talent out there.' A whopping 32,000 kids had auditioned for what are undoubtedly three of the biggest TV roles of the coming decade. McLaughlin, Stanton and Stout will now prepare for cameras to roll, which will happen this summer at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden with the first season set to air in 2026. They are all relative TV newcomers. McLaughlin has a role in the BBC's upcoming action adventure series Gifted while Stanton played Matilda in Matilda The Musical in London's West End across several months. The process to find the Boy Who Lived and his two best friends has gone on for months and months, we revealed in our deep dive several weeks back, following a much-publicized open callout published by the show's casting director Bevan, which asked for children aged between nine and 11 as of April 2025 who were residents of the UK and Ireland. The call specified a commitment to 'inclusive, diverse casting' and asked that, for each role, agents 'submit qualified performers, without regard to ethnicity, sex, disability, race, sexual orientation and gender identity.' The initial round asked candidates to submit two videos, one performing a short story or poem and the second asking them to talk about themselves as well as 'a family member, friend or pet that you are particularly close to.' Adult cast so far revealed for the high-profile HBO adaptation include Paapa Essiedu taking on potions master Snape, John Lithgow as head master Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid. Given the number of audition tapes that were submitted for Harry, Ron and Hermione, sources have previously told us it is likely that many other young cast members will be drawn from said tapes, allowing Bevan's team to more easily locate the future Draco Malfoy, Dean Thomas and Cho Chang. Some of the Weasley's in particular, of which there are six brothers including mischievous twins Fred and George, could be drawn from those who didn't quite make the cut as Ron. The series has been described as a 'faithful adaptation' of the beloved books and is being exec produced by the source material's author J.K. Rowling, who has attracted controversy aplenty for remarks around trans rights over the past few months. It will land on the recently re-rebranded HBO Max (formerly HBO Max then Max). The series is written and executive produced by Gardiner. Mylod will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the series for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced by Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films. Stanton is represented by Gavin Mills and Julie Gordon at Olivia Bell, and Public Eye. Best of Deadline 'Hacks' Season 4 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About 'Hacks' Season 4 So Far 'The Last Of Us': Differences Between HBO Series & Video Game Across Seasons 1 And 2
Express Tribune
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Zayn Malik follows Louis Tomlinson on Instagram: What happened between the One Direction stars?
Zayn Malik follows Louis Tomlinson on Instagram: What happened between the One Direction stars? One Direction fans all over the world are rejoicing after some eagle-eyed admirers noticed that Zayn Malik quietly followed Louis Tomlinson on Instagram. The subtle gesture sparked frenzy due to its significance amid long-standing tensions between the former bandmates. Moreover, shortly after Zayn posted a rare selfie in a white tank top and black 'The Last Of Us' cap, marking his return to Instagram following his Stairway to the Sky tour. Louis, notably, liked the post. Fans were quick to speculate on whether this marked a meaningful shift. Once close bandmates in One Direction, Zayn and Louis had a well-documented fallout. Their Twitter spat in 2015, just months after Zayn left the band, made headlines when Louis tweeted at Zayn's collaborator Naughty Boy, prompting Zayn to respond directly with, 'Remember when you had a life and stopped making b*tchy comments about mine?' After the loss of Louis's mother in 2016, he revealed they briefly reconnected. Despite the attempt to mend things, Louis later admitted in 2019, 'Truthfully it never really got better.' However, recent years have shown signs of thawing tensions. In 2022, Zayn shared a video singing 'Night Changes,' prompting Louis to respond, 'It was great to see him reminiscing on the One Direction days.' By January 2025, Louis attended Zayn's LA concert, with Zayn acknowledging his presence: 'An old friend of mine is here for me tonight.' The interactions come just months after the tragic death of their former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne in November 2024. Zayn and Louis along with the other 1D members reunited at Liam's funeral, a deeply emotional moment that brought them all together.
New York Post
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘The Last of Us' Season 2 ends with a huge cliffhangers — who died?
It's the last of Season 2. The sophomore year of the grim HBO drama 'The Last of Us' ended on Sunday night, wrapping up a dark stretch of episodes that killed off the series lead, Joel (Pedro Pascal). Spoilers ahead for 'The Last of Us' Season 2 finale. Advertisement Based on a popular video game of the same name, the show is set in a dystopian future where society has broken down, there are zombie-like creatures, and gruff smuggler Joel has formed a pseudo father/daughter relationship with teen girl Ellie (Bella Ramsey). In the finale, Ellie tells her pregnant girlfriend, Dina (Isabela Merced), about the events that led to why Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) killed Joel. 6 Kaitlyn Dever as Abby in 'The Last of Us.' Liane Hentscher/HBO Advertisement Ellie reveals that Joel killed Abby's father, who was a doctor, because he was going to kill Ellie in order to get the cure to the zombie infection ravaging humanity. Jesse (Young Mazino), who is the father of Dina's baby, also confronts Ellie about how Dina is pregnant. Dina hasn't told Jesse yet. 'I see how you look at each other, she tells you things she doesn't tell me,' he says, while Ellie assures him that she's positive Dina was going to tell him soon. 6 Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal in 'The Last of Us.' Liane Hentscher/HBO Advertisement Ellie also finally tracks down two others who were in the room with Abby when she brutally killed Joel. Ellie finds Mel (Ariela Barer) and Owen (Spencer Lord). She bursts in, surprising them, and demands to know where Abby is so that she can avenge Joel. When they don't tell Ellie, tension rises, and she ends up shooting them both. Advertisement As Mel bleeds out on the floor, Ellie is horrified to realize she was pregnant. A dying Mel gives Ellie last minute instructions on how to perform an emergency C-section, but she dies before Ellie can attempt. 6 Danny Ramirez, Spencer Lord, Ariela Barer, Gabriel Luna, Kaitlyn Dever, Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Tati Gabrielle, Isabela Merced, Jeffrey Wright, Rutina Wesley, and Young Mazino attend the Los Angeles premiere Of HBO Original Series 'The Last Of Us' Season 2 at TCL Chinese Theater on March 24, 2025 in Hollywood, California. WireImage Joel's brother, Tommy (Gabriel Luna), discovers Ellie next to Mel's body and leads her away. Jesse is also there. Jesse looks disturbed, but Tommy glances at the bodies and assures Ellie, 'they were part of it, too,' referring to Joel's death. 'They made their choices,' he adds. 'That's all there is to it.' Abby then shows up and shoots Jesse. 6 Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in 'The Last of Us.' Liane Hentscher/HBO When she points a gun at Tommy, Ellie begs her to let him go. Advertisement 'He killed my friends,' Abby says. 'No, I did,' Ellie admits. 'I was looking for you, I didn't mean to hurt them. I know why you killed Joel. He did what he did to save me. I'm the one that you want. Just let him go.' An enraged Abby tells Ellie, 'I let you live. I let you live! And you wasted it,' referring to how Ellie was in the room when Abby killed Joel, and she left Ellie behind, alive. 6 Kaitlyn Dever as Abby in 'The Last of Us.' Liane Hentscher/HBO Advertisement Abby shoots as Ellie shouts 'no!' and the screen cuts to black, making it unclear who Abby shot. At the end of Season 2, it's unclear what Ellie and Tommy and Jesse's fates are. In the final scene, Abby wakes up on a couch, walks out onto a balcony,and looks out over post-apocalyptic Seattle. 6 Bella Ramsey as Ellie in 'The Last of Us.' Liane Hentscher/HBO Advertisement Text onscreen reads, 'Seattle, Day One,' implying that this scene is at an earlier point in the timeline. 'The Last of Us' has been renewed for Season 3, but no premiere date has been announced yet. When asked how long the show will continue for, co-creator Craig Mazin told The Post in April, 'We certainly know where it ends, and we know it does end. So this is not meant to be, 'and now in the 12th season of 'The Last of Us.' That's not happening. So, depending on how it lands, [there will be] one more season for sure … but perhaps one more, beyond that.'
Forbes
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Ellie Was So Much Better In ‘The Last Of Us' Season 1
Ellie (Bella Ramsey) Credit: HBO The main problem with Ellie in Season 2 of The Last Of Us is absolutely not Bella Ramsey. I've said she looks a little small and young for the part, but I think I could get over those details if the writing for the character was better, and portrayed her how she ought to be at this point in the story. I've spent a lot of time comparing 'show Ellie' to 'video game Ellie' in previous posts, and I think that's useful simply because the game handles the character so much more deftly, but today I want to make a completely different – and even more relevant – comparison: Season 1 Ellie vs. Season 2 Ellie. It occurred to me as I wrote my '5 Biggest Problems With Season 2 Of The Last Of Us' post that I was never all that bothered by Ramsey's Ellie in Season 1. A quibble here and there with changes from the game's version, but nothing to get worked up about. Overall, I thought she did a great job and I thought the show handled her and Joel's relationship quite well. Was it as good as the video game? Not really, but it was close enough and it felt like a genuinely good faith effort. The show's creators mostly seemed to understand the characters, which makes sense since Neil Druckmann created and directed both games and is co-showrunning the HBO adaptation with Craig Mazin. But this is not the case in Season 2, and it's been bugging me to no end. In many ways, Season 2 Ellie – despite being older and more experienced – comes across as more childish, more obnoxious, less competent and far more stupid than she did in Season 1. Some of this is in the text. Ellie is mothered by Dina, lectured on how they shouldn't use their guns unless it's a last resort. She's self-deprecating, joking about how she's 'bad at math' when she can't work out Dina's map triangulation. Earlier, when she's setting out for Seattle on her own, Dina finds her and helps her plan. Ellie was ready to head off on foot with no supplies whatsoever, which is odd for someone who not only made it across the country in Season 1, but has lived and trained and grown up in a post-apocalyptic frontier town. From various podcasts and interviews, it appears that all of this is intentional. Speaking with Esquire, Craig Mazin said: That's quite a list of 'bad at' qualities. Ellie is impulsive, can't make good judgment calls, sees everything in black and white, gets quite dark, isn't self-reflective. And she's bad at math! But is Ellie really all those things? Is she not at all self-reflective? I'd argue that she is, but that her rage blinds her after Joel's death. I'd argue that she has pretty good executive functioning for someone her age. Maybe she can't triangulate, but she absolutely can plan and think clearly about objectives. But Season 2 Ellie is not just 'bad at math' or oblivious of basic tactical thinking, she's also inept when it comes to social interactions. Take the flashback with Joel and Eugene. Ellie wants to allow Eugene to return to Jackson to bid farewell to his wife, Gail. Joel doesn't want to allow this for a number of pretty solid reasons: It's dangerous, for one thing, but it would also mean that Eugene would invariably turn in front of his wife and other Jackson citizens and Joel (or someone else) would have to shoot and kill him in front of her. This would be dangerous and traumatizing. Eugene should never have asked in the first place. He should have given Joel his message and spared his wife the ordeal. Instead, Eugene begged and pleaded for something that was quite clearly a terrible idea and Ellie, because she is portrayed as so naive and simple this season, backed him. I dislike Joel's lie at this point. He should have put his foot down rather than turn to deception that had no chance of sticking. He should have appealed to the rules more, and to Ellie being his subordinate on her first patrol. Regardless, when the two of them return with Eugene's body, it's clear that Joel does the right thing. He lets Gail down gently. He tells her that Eugene was brave and selfless. That he didn't suffer. It's Ellie who interjects and shatters the lie, leaving Gail with a much less flattering image of her husband just so Ellie can rub Joel's face in it. Again, not only stupid but cruel and selfish. So we have an older Ellie now, but she's still babied by those around her. Dina and Jesse treat her like a kid. She acts like a spoiled brat at every turn, to the point that it's almost surprising when she acts more mature, or furious, or somber rather than insufferable. Setting aside how different Ellie is in the game, I'd like to point out that Ellie in Season 1, while five years younger, was actually nothing like she is now (and for the wrong reasons; clearly she should be different in Season 2). She was clever and resourceful in the first season. She was able to manipulate and outsmart David, the creepy leader of the cannibal group. She was even able to kill him before he could sexually assault her without Joel saving the day. When Joel is grievously wounded, it's Ellie who keeps him alive and sets out on her own to find food and medicine. At no point in Season 1 does Ellie come across as dim or incompetent, and whatever bratty moments she has are pretty justifiable given her age and situation, largely reflecting her inability to trust people. How did this Season 1 version of Ellie not develop into someone more mature, capable and sure of herself? If anything, she's regressed. Why is she even goofier now that Joel is dead, and even more in need of constant protection despite being a more seasoned survivor? Why does she need Dina to remind her that vengeance is justified – or how to pack? Where is her sense of urgency? Why is making dad jokes when she finds out Dina is pregnant instead of reacting with bitterness at the obstacle this creates in her quest to kill Abby? No, we don't need a 1:1 adaptation with the game. I'd be happy if we simply got the natural evolution of the character we came to love in Season 1. And if the show is going to give us a fundamentally different character than either version of Ellie, what story are they actually trying to tell in the first place? It's all very perplexing and strange. Ellie is one of the best female video game characters of all time and Season 1, while not quite as good as the game, was close enough. Season 2 has robbed Ellie of her agency, her rage, her competency, her intellect. And to what end? For some comic relief? To make Dina more crucial to the plot? I don't get it.
Tom's Guide
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
'The Last Of Us' showrunner wants season 4 to happen — 'there's no way to complete this narrative in a third season'
Going into 'The Last Of Us' season 2 finale this weekend, we already know that we're returning to this post-apocalyptic drama for a third chapter. Ahead of the show's return, HBO confirmed that 'The Last Of Us' had already been renewed for a third outing. We'd already heard rumblings that the show would be sticking around — HBO exec Francesca Orsi said it was 'looking like four seasons' would be required to do the story justice in February — and a new interview makes that plan sound even more rock-solid than before. Speaking to Collider, 'The Last Of Us' showrunner Craig Mazin feels like the show's going to need more room to breathe, as he rather conclusively said, 'there's no way to complete this narrative in a third season.' Asked about the length of the next season, Mazin had the following to say: 'I think there's a decent chance that Season 3 will be longer than Season 2, just because the manner of that narrative and the opportunities it affords us are a little different. 'The thing about Joel's death is that it's so impactful. It's such a narrative nuclear bomb that it's hard to wander away from it. We can't really take a break and move off to the side and do a Bill and Frank story. I'm not sure that will necessarily be true for Season 3. "I think we'll have a little more room there. But certainly, there's no way to complete this narrative in a third season. Hopefully, we'll earn our keep enough to come back and finish it in a fourth. That's the most likely outcome,' he added. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Granted, this isn't too much of a surprise, either; back in February, Mazin and 'The Last Of Us' co-creator Neil Druckmann coyly danced around a four-season arc while chatting to Entertainment Weekly. 'I think it's pretty likely that our story will extend past a season 3,' Mazin said at the time. 'How far past? I can't say. And that's not to say that there are not other stories that could be told, but this story is the one that Neil and I are telling.' Druckmann, by comparison, simply said the team 'have a plan' for the show at that time, chiming in with 'we couldn't tell you right now exactly how many episodes or how many seasons it would take to get there.' So, while none of this officially constitutes a season 4 renewal from the folks at Warner Bros. Discovery, all signs point to the fact that Ellie, Joel and Abby's story will be stretching beyond the third season. As and when official confirmation comes in, we'll be sure to share that news. 'The Last Of Us' season 2 finale airs this Sunday on HBO and Max at 9 p.m. ET. If you're watching in the UK, you can watch from 2 a.m. on Monday, May 14 on Sky Atlantic and the Sky-backed streamer, NOW. If you're looking to plan your post-finale viewing, check out our round-up of the best HBO Max shows for tons more recommendations to help you make the most of that streaming subscription.
