It’s been a good week for everyone involved in the making of “The Last of Us.” The series, led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, has been one of HBO Max’s biggest hits, attracting a large audience and dominating Twitter whenever a new episode drops. This week, the show hit an important milestone, cementing its first billion-minute week since its debut in January.

The news were first reported by Deadline, sharing that the series jumped in 36 percent viewership over the past week per Nielsen data. They also revealed that the audience for “The Last of Us” skews towards young males, a makeup that’s similar to that of “The Walking Dead.”

The nielsen report was made when the series had premiered five episodes. There are now seven available to watch, with a new episode premiering this Sunday.

Pascal is currently promoting her new TV series, “The Mandalorian,” which premiered its third season on March 1st. In an interview with Collider, he was asked about when the second season of “The Last of Us” would start shooting. "In the year 2023? Oh, what season are we in now? We're getting into spring?” he joked. “Yes, there is a chance. Yes."

In a separate interview, Bella Ramsey also talked about the second season of “The Last of Us” and some of the things she looked forward to in the show’s future, including her growingly complex relationship with Pascal’s character, Joel. “Also, the complexity of her relationship with Joel and how that gets decidedly... more complex," she said in the podcast Happy Sad Confused. "I'm looking forward to that, and the violence that ensues is thrilling in a way. To get to explore that in a really safe environment would be cool but I am nervous about it, too. I know what happens in the second game, and I'm nervous about potentially being without Pedro for a while. That's gonna be really sad."