The Last of Us season 2 has just bowed out on HBO and Max, after seven new episodes adapted from Naughty Dog's eponymous games. The grand finale was eagerly awaited by fans of the franchise, promising to speed things up after a chapter focused on the evolution of Ellie and Joel's relationship before the events of episode 2. Given the importance of episode 16 for the narrative, one could expect the series to reach new heights of popularity and stand out among the best audiences of the year for the American network. After all, in 2023, the first season had established itself as the best launch for an HBO production on American soil.
As is rare, the Warner Bros subsidiary is sharing the results of episode 7. This Sunday, on both HBO and Max, the series by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann attracted more than 3.7 million viewers. This is a priori rather a success, but should be put into perspective with the audience figures communicated at the launch of this season 2. The Last of Us is on the decline, since it posted 5.3 million audiences on April 17. Even more worrying, the finale of the first season claimed 8.2 million. For HBO, this decline is explained by the choice to broadcast this grand finale during a holiday weekend in the United States. Indeed, traditionally, Memorial Day is more successful in cinema and this success is to the disadvantage of the small screen. HBO is hoping that audiences will increase "significantly" in the coming days.
A mixed season?
In the long term, The Last of Us is ultimately doing rather well. According to Warner Bros., the series has an average of 37 million viewers worldwide across these seven new chapters, compared to 32 for the first batch of episodes. This growth reassures Warner Bros. and its subsidiaries, which are banking heavily on this imagery to attract users. Launched last June in several European countries, Max does not yet have many arguments to establish itself as a destination of choice. The Last of Us, like House of the Dragon and The White Lotus, are all franchises that allow the platform to conquer market share and compete with industry leaders, such as Disney+, Prime Video, and especially Netflix.
Craig Mazin, the series' creator, also emphasized the importance of the series achieving international success. While The Last of Us is already promised a third season, the teams already have the ambition to devote a fourth batch of episodes to the post-apocalyptic universe. He told Collider: “With any luck, we'll make enough money to finish the series with a fourth season. That's the most likely outcome.” He added that it would be very difficult to deliver a convincing finale with just one more season. It remains to be seen whether HBO will be willing to invest in additional episodes, given the series' budget is estimated at $10 million per episode.
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