The Last of Us’ Premiere Has Spread to Over 22 Million Viewers in the US

HBO’s television adaptation of The Last of Us is showing no signs of slowing down. Recently announced, the show has been renewed for its second season, following its absurd debut numbers across two episodes. Those numbers continue to rise, as over 22 million viewers have watched the show’s first episode.

The news of the explosive debut comes from Variety, following the announcement of the second season. The first episode started extremely hot, as 4.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the televised adaptation. Two days after, that number nearly tripled its viewing numbers as it reached 10 million viewers, marking one of the largest debuts for HBO. HBO now reports episode one has reached over 22 million viewers in the United States since it aired on Jan. 15.

For the unaware, The Last of Us follows the story of Joel and Ellie as the duo embarks on a journey of a lifetime across a post-apocalyptic world following a massive zombie outbreak. The show is the television adaptation of Naughty Dog’s hit title that was released in 2013 to rave reviews. Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann serves as co-creator, which stars Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Bella Ramsey as the main characters.

The third episode premieres this Sunday, and with a second season in the works, The Last of Us is setting the benchmark for future video games looking to leap to the “big screen.” It’ll be interesting to see where how far numbers reach when Joel and Ellie’s televised journey ends.