'The Last Of Us' Series Premiere Draws HBO's Second-Biggest Audience In Over 10 Years

"The Last of Us" had its premiere over the weekend and drew huge viewership for HBO and HBO Max. The show drew 4.7 million viewers for its series premiere on Sunday (Jan. 15), per an official press release from HBO. This marks the second-largest debut for HBO behind only "House of the Dragon" since 2010.

Per HBO, the audience for the debut episode of "The Last of Us" was the biggest for HBO programming since the premiere of "Boardwalk Empire" in 2010, before HBO programming was available on a streaming app. The data for the series premiere is based on Nielsen and first-party data across linear and HBO Max platforms.

Additionally, the audience for the post-apocalyptic drama was almost double that of the Season 2 debut night for "Euphoria," which averaged 19.5 million viewers per episode in the U.S. According to HBO, Sunday night viewership for an original HBO series typically represents about 20%-40% of the show's total gross audience per episode.

Also, the show was trending across social media at No. 1 in the U.S. and worldwide on Twitter on Sunday. "The Last of Us" has generated so much buzz that the trailer and teaser clips for the first season have drawn more than 100 million views worldwide.

HBO & HBO Max Content Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys commented on the announcement, "We are thrilled to see fans of the series and game alike experience this iconic story in a new way, and we extend our gratitude to them for helping to make it a success." Bloys continued, "Congratulations to Craig, Neil and the brilliant cast and crew who worked tirelessly to bring this show to life. We look forward to fans around the world enjoying the rest of the season."

Executive Producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann added in a joint statement, "Our focus was simply to make the best possible adaptation of this beloved story for as big an audience as we could. We are overjoyed to see how many fans, both old and new, have welcomed ‘The Last of Us’ into their homes and their hearts."

https://youtu.be/uLtkt8BonwM

The series is based on the hit video game franchise developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The show has received impressive critical acclaim with a 99% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.

"The Last of Us" is set 20 years after modern civilization has fallen. Joel Miller, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle 14-year-old Ellie across a dangerous quarantine zone. What begins as a job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey. The show stars Pedro Pascal ("The Mandalorian," "Game of Thrones") as Joel, Bella Ramsey ("Game of Thrones") as Ellie, Gabriel Luna ("Agents of SHIELD," "Terminator: Dark Fate") as Tommy, Anna Torv as Tess, and Storm Reid as Riley. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, who previously portrayed Joel and Ellie in the games, will also be appearing in the show.

New episodes of "The Last of Us" will be debuting weekly on Sunday at 9:00 pm EST/PST on HBO, and they will also stream on HBO Max, leading into the season finale on March 12.

Meanwhile, Pascal has another huge TV premiere coming up in a few weeks. On March 1, Season 3 of "The Mandalorian" debuts on Disney+.