Horrific mutants vacate Alberta streets as HBO's The Last of Us set to wrap production
CBC
It's been nearly a year since production on HBO's big-budget adaptation of The Last of Us descended on Alberta, shutting down major roads and flyovers and drawing leagues of curious fans to peer at the production from afar, sometimes with binoculars.
Albertans will have to wait until some time in 2023 to see the fruits of that labour on screen, but production on the first season is drawing to a close this week. The final day of shooting is scheduled for Friday.
"I think it's been an amazing year for film and television in this province," said Calgary Economic Development's film commissioner, Luke Azevedo. "That particular series had a lot to do with the growth and development of film and television this past year."
The show, which stars Pedro Pascal of The Mandalorian and Bella Ramsey of Game of Thrones as Joel and Ellie, respectively, is based on the hit video game of the same name.
The show is set in a post-apocalyptic world 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. In the video game series, Joel and Ellie seek to survive as they are pursued by mutated humans infected by a parasitic fungus.
WATCH | Late last year, production on The Last of Us turned the Fourth Avenue flyover into a post-apocalyptic movie set:
The production's budget for the first season hasn't been officially disclosed by HBO (and the network did not respond to requests for comment), but Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has said the series is the largest in Canadian history.
It is expected to represent more than $200 million in revenue for Alberta.
The series spent time filming at Mount Royal University and at SAIT and headed north to Edmonton, where the production covered the Alberta Legislature Building in vines.
It also shot in smaller communities around Calgary such as Okotoks, High River and Fort Macleod, which was also featured prominently in the latest Ghostbusters film.
Calgary resident Mark Innes, who resides in Sunnyside, says most of the sets for the production have been within a 10-minute bike ride from his house — so he frequently took to cycling down with a camera to document the production.
"I visited some other sets and was just really impressed with the craftsmanship. And the way that the city was transformed to be Boston or Pittsburgh," he said.
"It just creates some excitement in the city. We've been lacking for [that] since oil and gas crashed. So something like this, I think it brings added excitement to the area."
Azevedo said the size of the production signals that Alberta has infrastructure in place to suit similar film and television projects.
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