HBO boss gives updates on The Last Of Us and the future of Succession and Westworld

Release dates and future seasons are on the agenda.

HBO has provided an update on the highly-anticipated The Last Of Us TV show adaptation as well as other hit series like Jesse Armstrong's Succession and sci-fi epic, Westworld. The Emmy nominations were announced on Tuesday and HBO racked up an impressive 140 nominations across 24 shows, the highest of any outlet (the next highest being Netflix with 105 nominations across 35 shows). Following the announcements, HBO Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the incredible reaction to the network's shows, as well as looking forward to what is coming next. While he was tight-lipped about certain projects - when asked about the proposed Jon Snow spin-off show, he replied: "I have nothing to report on the Jon Snow development." ('you know nothing' was right there, come on) - he was a bit more forthcoming about some of their other huge upcoming shows. https://twitter.com/JOE_co_uk/status/1537726963292459009?s=20&t=hmJH5IkajMnYb0jZRvz9mw First and foremost, Succession. When asked about a release date for the fourth season, Bloys replied: "We haven’t announced dates yet but I’d imagine White Lotus (Season 2), Succession (Season 4), Barry (Season 4) and Hacks (Season 3) would all be within next year’s Emmy eligibility window." [caption id="attachment_348845" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Credit: HBO - Succession's fourth season is due to arrive "early 2023"[/caption] This would mean that season four of Succession and those mentioned above will air and will have completed their season runs by May 2023. When asked about the future of the show beyond the fourth season, Bloys said: "For a decision like that we do defer to show-runners. It’s up to Jesse Armstrong to decide. They’ve started shooting the fourth season and broken stories and he wants to go through that process to see if he does have more story or themes to explore. It’s up to him. If he wants to do more, great. If this is all he’s got, great. "A world like Game of Thrones where George R.R. Martin has an entire universe and thousand-year timeline and multiple families and wars and history, that’s not what Jesse has set up. There’s no scenario where a Succession multiverse is in the cards." [caption id="attachment_348846" align="alignnone" width="1600"] Credit: HBO - Westworld's season four began airing on June 26[/caption] When asked the same question about Westworld beyond the fourth season, he replied: "Like with any show, we’ll see how it does. We haven’t talked to them about ideas for a season five but we’re only three episodes into season four and we’ll see how it goes. No decisions have been made." [caption id="attachment_348847" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Credit: HBO - The first season of The Last of Us TV show looks to follow the events of the first game, but future series are almost inevitable[/caption] And, finally, when asked about a release date for the adaptation of The Last of Us, he replied: "It’s closer to early 2023." Following The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal and GoT's Bella Ramsey being cast in the titular roles, the buzz around the show outside of fans from the game is picking up. We've even had our first glimpse at what they look like as Joel and Ellie. https://twitter.com/Neil_Druckmann/status/1534985450921902095?s=20&t=hmJH5IkajMnYb0jZRvz9mw Movie and TV versions of games have a famously poor hit ratio but the successes of Tom Holland's Uncharted film, The Witcher and even the Sonic movies are perhaps a sign that the tide is turning. Here's hoping HBO's take on The Last of Us delivers the faithful high-end drama we've come to expect from the big-budget, premium network. Bring on next year!

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