It's official: The Last of Us TV show is as infectious as you'd expect.
The highly anticipated post-apocalyptic tragic series is the second most-watched television premiere in HBO and HBO Max history, with XNUMX million viewers watching it last Sunday (January XNUMX) in the US.
In a press release, HBO found that its live-action adaptation of The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal and Preciosa Ramsey, drew twice as many viewers as the season two opening of Euphoria. The tragic show starring Zendaya averaged XNUMX million viewers per episode, so early performances of The Last of Us suggest it could do even better.
A great start to the series is to be expected. Drawing heavily from Naughty Dog's award-winning game series of the same name, The Last of Us received critical acclaim even before its release. We highly commend it in our review of The Last of Us, and with XNUMX% new certified audience and critical ratings on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes (opens in a new tab) , the whole planet is satisfied in its real quality. So it won't surprise anyone that we've already added it to our list of the best shows on HBO Max.
In a statement released in conjunction with the show's staggering viewership numbers, co-producers and executive producers Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said: "Our goal was simply to make the best possible adaptation of this beloved story for as wide an audience as possible. We are thrilled to see how many fans, old and new, have welcomed 'The Last of Us' into their homes and hearts."
Unfortunately, non-HBO sources such as Sky in the UK have provided no data, so it's rather difficult to determine how popular The Last of Us is in other parts of the world, but if those numbers are anything close to the numbers he got. In the US, The Last of Us could be the biggest TV hit of XNUMX to date.
Analysis: Dragons Beat Mushrooms
As incredible as The Last of Us made it, the viewership numbers for its premiere paled in comparison to one of its HBO cousins, House of the Dragon.
The Game of Thrones prequel series drew nearly ten million viewers when it began on HBO Max in August 2022; a huge success that proved that HBO's live action on the literary works of George RR Martin was not yet dead. House of the Dragon continued to fly high in the weeks that followed, with the high-fantasy show averaging between 9 and 1 million subscribers per episode, including XNUMX million by the season XNUMX finale.
So The Last of Us still has a ways to go if it has any hope of beating House of the Dragon and removing the crown from its fiery head, and it's unlikely to achieve that goal.
Why? Despite its much-discussed final season, Game of Thrones remains an incredibly popular show and franchise. As a prequel to the events that take place in that series, House of the Dragon already had a pre-established TV fanbase, meaning it was still likely to draw viewers in, even if it ended up being awful.
The Last of Us can boast of having its dedicated fanbase. However, while games are slowly becoming more popular in mainstream culture, they are not as ingrained in the public consciousness as TV shows. Therefore, it will take time for The Last of Us series to grow the fan base of the franchise.
Still, if it's any consolation, the first episode of Game of Thrones only drew 2 million viewers in the US in April XNUMX. It beat out a live-action Game of Thrones series. If The Last of Us gets more installments, and, based on its viewership share, it's bound to, expect House of the Dragon to give its money in season two and beyond.
For more HBO-focused coverage, find out how to catch The Last of Us episode two before it airs in your part of the world. In addition to this, find out why its showrunners decided to move The Last of Us timeline for its TV adaptation, and check out our Game of Thrones seasons classified article.
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