‘I was blown away’: The Last of Us premiere thrills Calgary mayor

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says she was “blown away” after watching the premiere of the HBO series The Last of Us, which was filmed in Calgary as well as other parts of Alberta including Edmonton.

She adds she thinks the series will be enjoyable for hardcore fans, as well as casual TV watchers.

“I can tell you that at the premiere, they had invited a lot of gamers — a lot of people that were big fans of The Last of Us, the game — and there was a lot of hoots and hollering from the crowd. They were impressed with what they saw,” Gondek said.

Early footage of the show released in trailers has been well received, and some eagle-eyed Calgarians have already spotted some familiar places.

“I was blown away by The Last of Us premiere, I had the incredible good fortune to take it in. And I have to tell you, the producers, the entire group that was assembled at that premiere was so thankful to our city and to our province for being so welcoming to that production — biggest production in Alberta’s history,” Gondek said. “And we had the Consul General from Canada there as well, both Mayor Sohi and I were able to attend. We turned family trips into an opportunity to go and see this. And I would encourage everybody to watch it on Sunday, it’s amazing.”

The Last of Us is based on the best-selling, critically-acclaimed PlayStation videogame of the same name, lauded for its deep narrative and characterization of the collapse of modern civilization after a fungal disease devastates humanity. Many have drawn comparisons from The Last of Us to another widely-popular HBO show, Game of Thrones — in terms of its scale, budget, and ambition.

The series is also the largest film or television production in Canadian history. It began filming in Calgary as well as the surrounding area in 2021.

Pedro Pascal of The Mandalorian and Bella Ramsey of Game of Thrones play the lead roles.

Pascal has previously discussed his experience filming in Alberta on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

The Mandalorian star said he’s dined at Model Milk on 17 Avenue, as well as visited Banff and Lake Louise.

READ MORE:

• ‘The Last of Us’ filming backs up Calgary morning traffic

• First footage of HBO’s Calgary-filmed ‘The Last of Us’ revealed

• HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ series largest Canadian film/TV production of all time

Gondek says because of the quality of The Last of Us, she believes Calgary and Alberta will be moving up on the list of best places to film movies and TV series in Canada.

“I can tell you that it is through the strength of the facilities we have here, the infrastructure that has been either repurposed or purpose-built. We’ve got crews here that are incredible, we’ve got a lot of talent. And we’re committed, we’re committed to the industry. I know that the provincial government has provided incentives, I can tell you that the city has a film-friendly strategy. So we’ve all been pulling together to make sure that people understand how film and TV friendly we are,” Gondek explained.

“And it’s paying off, we’re seeing more and more interest and more and more advocacy from people that do produce here telling their partners in the industry to come to Calgary and come to Alberta if they want to do great production.”