The Last of Us drew a wholesome quantity for HBO on Sunday evening.

The videogame adaptation, starring Pedro Pascal, drew 4.7M viewers throughout linear and HBO Max. It marked the biggest debut after House of the Dragon since Boardwalk Empire launched in 2010.

The Game of Thrones spinoff made historical past final year by premiering with 9.986M viewers throughout linear and HBO Max – the biggest viewers for any new authentic sequence within the historical past of pay cabler.

Historical drama Boardwalk Empire, which starred Steve Buscemi, launched in 2010 with 4.81M viewers tuning in to its premiere on its linear community.

The premiere numbers have been practically double the season two debut evening for Euphoria, which recorded 2.4M. That program went on to common 19.5M viewers per episode within the U.S.

HBO mentioned that Sunday evening viewership usually represents 20%-40% of the present’s complete gross viewers per episode.

The series, which is predicated on the PlayStation video game, takes place 20 years after current civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is employed to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old young woman, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What begins as a small job quickly turns into a brutal journey as the two need to traverse the US and rely upon one another for survival.

It stars Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman in addition to Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, Elaine Miles, Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker.

The Last Of Us is written and produced by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. It’s a co-production with Sony Pictures Television together with PlayStation Productions, Word Games, The Mighty Mint, and Naughty Dog. Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, and Rose Lam additionally exec produce.

Sarah (Nico Parker) & Joel (Pedro Pascal)

“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, HBO & HBO Max Content. “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.”

“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.”