The Last of Us Part III has received a surprisingly positive update from Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann, with the franchise creator saying he would ‘jump at’ making a threequel.
With a 2013 video game and a 2020 sequel titled The Last of Us and Part II repsectively, and now an all-encompassing HBO series starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey with a potential four seasons, it’s no surprise that the people clamour for more.
Neil Druckmann, the head of Naughty Dog (the franchise’s studio) first sparked rumours that a third part to Ellie’s adventure could still materialise during a 2024 documentary titled Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II.
In the YouTube doc, he said, “I do have that concept that to me is as exciting as 1, as exciting as 2, is its own thing, and yet has this throughline for all three. So it does feel like there’s probably one more chapter to this story.”
Speaking on the Sacred Symbols podcast (21 May), Druckmann has now confirmed that he “meant what he said in the documentary,” adding even more confirmation that while he would “jump at” making The Last of Us Part III, it would have to be “worthy” of the franchise.
“While I’m the caretaker of this franchise, it’s important that everything is of high quality. I don’t want to just make a lot of it. I want to be very thoughtful about everything we make,” Druckmann said.
“When we made a theme park thing, we teamed up with Universal and the best people to do that Halloween haunted house [attraction]. When we did the show, we teamed up with I feel with the best TV makers with HBO and we’re making the best version of that.
“If we were ever to come back to it, I want to make sure it’s a story worthy of The Last of Us. I love that world, I love these characters, with the right opportunity, with the right idea, yeah, I would totally jump at it.”
The second season of The Last of Us, which is based off of the first half of the 2020 video game sequel, is nearly finished, with just one episode left on Ellie’s quest for revenge.
Season three is set to follow Kaitlyn Dever as newcomer Abby on her own fight for survival across the post-apocalyptic United States – and Craig Mazin, co-creator of the HBO series, recently confirmed that the show will need an extra season (four in total) to do the game’s narrative justice.
The Last of Us airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET and on Mondays in the UK on Sky Atlantic and Now. It is also available to stream on Max.
