How HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ Created a Scarily Perfect Mall Dystopia

The Last Of Us, but his potential casting never became “serious”.While the HBO adaptation of the video game was in development, reports claimed True Detective stars Mahershala Ali and McConaughey were both in contention to play the role of Joel in the series, which eventually went to Pedro Pascal.Show co-creator Craig Mazin addressed the rumours on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he confirmed talks with McConaughey had taken place.“I actually never talked to Mahershala,” Mazin said. “I did talk to Matthew [McConaughey]. I can’t say it was serious.

Todd Gilchrist editor Chuck D was one of hip hop’s elder statesmen even before the genre was old enough to have them: born in 1960, he witnessed its birth in the boroughs of New York in 1973, released his first album as a founding member of incendiary group Public Enemy at age 27, and has presided over its evolution with a perspective and erudition shared by few in rap, before or since. His insights and attitudes both shaped hip hop on wax and commented upon it in popular culture, burnishing the legitimacy of an art form driven by people of color even as it became commercially supported, even co-opted by mainstream, majority-white consumers. His impact, and his importance, is reiterated in “Fight the Power: How Hip Hop Changed the World,” a four-part documentary he developed and executive produced for PBS which bears the name of one of Public Enemy’s biggest and most influential hit singles. On June 21, Chuck D appeared on a panel in Los Angeles to discuss the creation of the documentary alongside Gil Vazquez, President of the Keith Haring Foundation; Jean-Michel Basquiat’s sister Lisane, appearing on behalf of his King Pleasure exhibit at the Broad Museum; and “Fight the Power” coproducer Lorrie Boula. Before the panel, he spoke to Variety about the four elements — DJing, MCing, break dancing and graffiti — that for 50 years now have formed hip hop’s foundational pillars, the changing tastes and techniques artists use to create work (and get it seen), and the advantages for him of getting old in a genre steadily supported by youth.

Lance Bass and Joey Fatone are up with Hilary Duff on .The 'NSYNC members make guest appearances as themselves in the latest episode of the Hulu series, dropping Tuesday, where they encounter Duff's Sophie and Francia Raisa's Valentina at the local bank, and only ET exclusively debuts a first look at their cameo.In the installment, appropriately titled «Out of Sync,» the gang go a day without their cell phones, forced to face the world without help from the internet, which becomes an issue when Lance and Joey spontaneously invite Sophie and Valentina to a party that night at the old bologna factory. This, after the boy banders come up with an impromptu song about Sophie and Valentina being «bankin' beauties.»«I can't believe we're going to party with 'NSYNC at the old bologna factory!» Valentina exclaims, as they celebrate in glee before reality sets in.«I know, I know, I know! Where is the old bologna factory?» Sophie asks.«No idea.

HBO has another hit on its hands with “The Last Of Us,” with the series breaking all sorts of viewership records for the network earlier this year. And a lot of the show’s critical success comes from its cast, leading man Pedro Pascal in particular.

filming the much-anticipated “Scandoval” reunion episode of Vanderpump Rules, she didn’t need to say anything to telegraph how she was feeling about her ex. Her message was written on her sweatsuit: “1 800 Boys Lie.”Ariana Madix wears “Boys Lie.”The photos of in the perfectly-on-the-nose set became a viral moment, and encapsulated a classic type of celebrity PR: .

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Before Pedro Pascal landed the male lead in HBO’s adaptation of the hugely popular “The Last of Us” video game, rumors swirled that co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann were trying to lure former “True Detective” stars Mahershala Ali and Matthew McConaughey back to the network to headline the series. Mazin finally sounded off on the casting rumors during a recent interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. “I actually never talked to Mahershala,” Mazin said before confirming that talks with McConaughey did in fact take place. However, it sounds like McConaughey’s casting never made it past early discussions about the project.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Transforming Disney’s award-winning animated feature “Encanto” into a live experience at the Hollywood Bowl in front of an audience of 17,000 people was no easy feat, with factors such as the pandemic, limited access to the venue and unexpected weather conditions all in play. But the production team, cast and crew pulled it off in under 72 hours, delivering a Broadway-quality experience. Unlike a Broadway show, the original voice cast, scores of dancers and production team did not have the luxury of rehearsing at the Bowl. Gabe Turner, executive producer of the event, said, “We could only gain access to the Bowl for four days before we were due to welcome our dancers, orchestra and cast into the space.”

The Bear returns for its second season this month.Created by Christopher Storer, the show’s first season followed award-winning chef Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) who returns to run his family’s Italian beef sandwich shop following the suicide of his older brother.The second season picks up after Carmy’s decision to close the shop in order to open a new restaurant, alongside Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and Richie (Ebon Mass-Bachrach).A synopsis reads: “Carmy, Sydney and Richie work to transform their grimy sandwich joint into a next-level spot. As they strip the restaurant down to its bones, the crew undertakes transformational journeys of their own, each forced to confront the past and reckon with who they want to be in the future.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Composer Sherri Chung admits she was late to the “Gremlins” party — only because she was too young and found it too scary. But when she grew older and was reintroduced to the movie, she thought “it was the greatest thing ever.” The 1984 film, as well as Jerry Goldsmith’s score, became a key inspiration for her. So when she got the opportunity to score Max’s new animated series “Gremlins: Secret of the Mogwai,” directed by Tze Chun, she decided to “lean into the scary and the fear, but also the emotion” with her music. The series is an origin story that gives a partial explanation as to how Gizmo ends up in a Chinatown antique store at the beginning of 1984’s “Gremlins.” To add a Chinese element to the score, Chung used bamboo flutes, but the meat of the score came from the erhu, a two-stringed bowed musical instrument sometimes referred to as the “Chinese violin.”

The beloved animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender is coming to life in a new way on Netflix.

Although the rain has begun to fall once again in Scotland bringing an end to the recent dry spell, it still remains hot outside.

This story about director Peter Hoar and “The Last of Us” first ran in the Drama Series issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.For pure emotional punch this past TV season, one need look no further than “Long, Long Time,” the third episode of HBO’s “The Last of Us.” Detouring from the main journey of a lone man and the fungus-resistant young woman under his care (Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey) navigating zombie-strewn roads, the series settled down for a decades-spanning romance between two older men, Bill and Frank (played unforgettably by Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett), that resonated with its universality and refusal to reduce the duo to dreary stereotypes. If your heart didn’t break watching these men make peace with their life decisions through the unsteady ages, you simply do not and never did have one beating in your chest.“I would have said yes to an episode full of zombies being shot in the head and probably would have been very excited,” director Peter Hoar said.

Hilary Duff is the star of How I Met Your Father on Hulu and her breakout role was on Disney Channel’s Lizzie McGuire.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor The creators of “Accidentally Wes Anderson” had no idea what was coming when they launched their Instagram page. Wally and Amanda Koval started the account in 2017 to celebrate visually-appealing buildings and landscapes around the world that looked as if they could have inspired Wes Anderson films. From tiny libraries in New Zealand to, of course, lighthouses in Canada, the Instagram page, with 1.8 million followers, and its accompanying website curate colorful, symmetrical and historic tableaux that might have sprung directly from a scene in “The Grand Budapest Hotel” or “The French Dispatch” — except they’re submitted by photographers from around the world.

Please note: the screening and panel took place on April 28, before the start of the WGA Strike.

Karen Idelson While debates about the use of A.I. take center stage across the entertainment industry, the technology has been quietly assisting animation and visual effects crews for years. It had made some of the most astonishing visual images possible when artisans have been asked to do what was previously thought impossible. When helmer Peter Sohn wanted characters based on the elements of fire, water, air and earth for his new film “Elemental,” VFX supervisor Sanjay Bakshi and his team at Pixar looked to A.I. to make the process smoother. The look of the characters depended on adjustments that would align them with Sohn’s vision. “We used A.I. for a very specific kind of problem, and we used a machine learning algorithm called neural style transfer,” says Bakshi. “Our animation is so highly scrutinized. We go through so many review cycles for every shot and the animators are really handcrafting it and there’s not a lot of places where machine learning is applicable in the current form.

Gordon Cox Theater Editor As they say in “Into the Woods”: It takes two.  And not just in “Into the Woods.” The 2023 Tony nominations remind us several times over that sometimes an actor’s role is so closely tied to another that it’s difficult to imagine a performance without the organic give-and-take shared with a co-star.    From “Into the Woods,” there’s Sara Bareilles and Brian D’Arcy James, both contenders for Tony Awards as lead performers for their work in the tightly linked roles of the Baker and the Baker’s Wife. Among their fellow nominees, there’s Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond as an accused murderer and the steadfast wife who strives to exculpate him in “Parade,” plus Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford as the murderous barber and the baker who loves him in “Sweeney Todd.” And the two lead roles in “Topdog/Underdog” and “Some Like It Hot” are so intertwined that these co-stars find themselves competing in the same category against a castmate.  

Malina Saval Associate Editor, Features Documentarian Emily Wachtel met Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward when she was two years old. They were neighbors in Westport. Conn, the dearest of family friends. “I knew them my whole life,” says Wachtel. “They are the reason I am in film.”  Wachtel, producer of CNN’s six-part docuseries “The Last Movie Stars,” which paints a sweeping, intimate, romantic portrait of the life, love and careers of Newman and Woodward, describes her childhood with the famed couple as if something out of a suburban New England dream.  “They were incredible people,” says Wachtel. “I was so young when I met them, and I didn’t understand what a movie star was at the time. But part of that is because they were so real. They’d pick you up to go to birthday parties, Joanne made sweaters. They had this big, beautiful barn on the property and they would entertain almost every weekend. Not in a formal way, but with everyone. Not necessarily actors. It was neighbors and friends from all walks of life. They would have everybody over and make hamburgers. They screened movies. I saw a lot of old movies with them, from ‘Lady in the Tramp’ to ‘The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds.’ It was just part of the fabric of that household. And it was a gift.” 

Whitney Friedlander Turns out, playing the one who knocks is a great way to notch up some Emmy votes. “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston made Emmy history when he became the first actor from a cable series to receive three consecutive lead actor in a drama trophies for his work playing Walter White on the AMC series.  He’d eventually clock in at four total wins in that category, plus two more for best drama series due to his producer credit. The iconic character has also twice made guest appearances in the “Bad” universe — 2019’s “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie” and now, alongside Aaron Paul, appearing in the final season of “Better Call Saul,” as that was when the Bob Odenkirk-led prequel finally caught up to the events in “Bad.” Adding to and re-creating moments from “Bad,” these now-guest parts filled in details of this notoriously scrupulous world.

It sounds like The Kardashians might be around for a long time.