Warner Bros. Discovery’s HBO clinched its second-most viewed premiere in more than a decade on Sunday, when the first episode of “The Last of Us” series reeled in 4.7 million viewers across linear and HBO Max.
The debut of the series, based on the acclaimed video game franchise of the same name, came in only behind last year’s “House of the Dragon,” which was a prequal series to the highly popular "Game of Thrones" and drew in 10 million U.S. viewers for the August 21, 2022 premiere. The only other show to beat the two series was 2010’s premiere of “Boardwalk Empire,” which debuted before the days of easily accessible HBO programing on streaming platforms.
According to HBO, “The Last of Us,” written and executive produced by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, creator of the video game, had nearly double the audience for its debut than the season two premiere of HBO’s hit “Euphoria” – the latter which went on to average 19.5 million viewers per episode in the U.S.
And viewership metrics are likely only to grow as people who didn’t catch Sunday’s showing tune in later. HBO said Sunday night viewership for an HBO series usually only represents between 20%-40% of the show’s total gross audience per episode.
Excitement was high in the lead up to the premiere of “The Last of Us,” which stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Whip Media projected a big debut for the series, and also pegged it as the most anticipated new TV show of 2023, based on its anticipation data of people “following” the show on the company’s TV Time app, which collects info from more than 24 million users.
According to HBO, the series’ first episode of a companion podcast also hit number on Apple’s TV & Film chart in the U.S. within the first 24 hours of release, while season one teasers and trailers have garnered more than 100 million views globally.
“We are thrilled to see fans of the series and game alike experience this iconic story in a new way, and we extend our gratitude to them for helping to make it a success,” said Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO & HBO Max Content, in a statement. “Congratulations to Craig, Neil and the brilliant cast and crew who worked tirelessly to bring this show to life. We look forward to fans around the world enjoying the rest of the season.”
If the premiere is any indication of a new must-watch show, it’s good timing for WBD’s HBO Max platform. Last year the streaming service had some fan favorite series culled (such as “Westworld” and “The Nevers”) after a strategic content assessment related to post-merger cost savings, and just last week implemented its first price hike since the SVOD debuted in 2020. WBD bumped the price of the premium ad-free version of HBO Max by $1 per month in the U.S., now charging $15.99 per month. This spring, HBO Max is set to combine with Discovery+ into a single new streaming service offered by WBD. Pricing and exact timing for that streaming service haven’t been announced yet.
Attempts to leverage popular video game IP for TV series is also something other streamers have tried, including Netflix with “Resident Evil” and Paramount with the 2022 debut of “Halo.” Despite some criticism from loyal fans of the Halo video game, in international markets the “Halo” TV series was the number one show in terms of driving sign-ups to Paramount+, according to the Wall Street Journal, ahead of U.S. hits “1883” and “Yellowstone.”
Before the January 15 premiere, Whip Media data also had anticipation of HBO’s “The Last of Us” tracking “well ahead” of other SVOD originals based on video game IP including “Halo” and “Arcane” in terms of on follower trends at the same point in time ahead of those series’ respective release dates.
Following the premiere, “The Last of Us” series creators Mazin and Druckmann in a statement expressed joy at the strong debut night showing.
“Our focus was simply to make the best possible adaptation of this beloved story for as big an audience as we could,” said Mazin and Druckmann. “We are overjoyed to see how many fans, both old and new, have welcomed ‘The Last of Us’ into their homes and their hearts.”