Let’s address the elephant in the room right away because it’s been a stressful few days for The Last of Us fans. No, HBO has not canceled The Last of Us, and season 3 is still happening.
Concern among fans spiked during the weekend of June 6 after entertainment outlet ScreenRant reported that The Last of Us season 3 filming was reportedly canceled. The headline quickly managed to create a stir among fans who feared the worst: that this meant HBO was backing out of season 3 and that the show was quietly canceled. That is not the case, as a third season of HBO’s zombie drama is still happening.
While season 2 wasn’t as well-received as season 1, The Last of Us remains a strong performer for HBO, and the network’s faith in the franchise has not wavered. HBO is hard at work on the third season, which will put a major focus on Kaitlyn Dever’s character Abby, marking a major shift for the franchise heading into season 3.
Season 3 has been in production for several months, with production having begun in March, and there are still several months of production ahead for the show. Interestingly, though, while season 3 is proceeding as planned, production on the new season has hit pause on production – one that seems to be connected to a major sporting event happening this summer.
The Last of Us season 3 filming paused for several weeks in June
As revealed via the British Columbia directory, production on The Last of Us is taking a major break during the month of June, with filming pausing from June 1 through June 28. While the reason for the pause in production is unconfirmed, it is likely that HBO chose to pause production on the series due to the fact that Vancouver, which is home to production of The Last of Us, is a premier host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and is hosting several matches this June.
With the World Cup games expected to draw large crowds to the area, it would make sense that HBO would decide to press pause on The Last of Us during this span of time. After all, there is a good chance that with the World Cup tourism, HBO might not have been able to film in certain locations and viewed it as a better route to press pause on the production for a few weeks.
It is not uncommon at all for major productions to schedule breaks in production for various reasons; sometimes these breaks are planned months in advance, and other times they come up last-minute. It’s unclear how far in advance HBO might have planned for this break, but cameras should begin rolling as June comes to an end and The Last of Us season 3 is still expected to release in 2027.
Hopefully, we'll see The Last of Us season 3 arrive in the first quarter of 2027, releasing sometime between January and March, but there is always a chance the show's third season could slide to Summer 2027. Either way, we're sure the season will be worth the wait whenever it arrives!
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