The team behind Westworld is in it for the long haul. Entertainment Weekly reports production on the HBO series shut down earlier this year so the writers could plan future seasons.
Based on the 1973 film of the same name, the futuristic drama is set at a Wild West theme park where androids start attacking visitors. The cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, Thandie Newton, James Marsden, Evan Rachel Wood, Ed Harris, Jimmi Simpson, Shannon Woodward, and Miranda Otto.
Recently, star Marsden revealed that production shut down last January so the writers could plan out the “next 5 or 6 years”:
It wasn’t about getting the first 10 [episodes] done, it was about mapping out what the next 5 or 6 years are going to be. We wanted everything in line so that when the very last episode airs and we have our show finale, five or seven years down the line, we knew how it was going to end the first season – that’s the way Jonah and [executive producer J.J. Abrams] operate. They’re making sure all the ducks are in the row. And it’s a testament to Jonah and Lisa and HBO that we got them right, especially the last three scripts. They could have rushed them and get spread too thin. They got them right, and when they were right, we went and shot them.”
Writer Jonathan Nolan added:
We didn’t want to have a story that repeated itself [each year]. We didn’t want the Fantasy Island version of this [where new guests arrive at the park every season]. We wanted a big story. We wanted the story of the origin of a new species and how that would play out in its complexity.”
Westworld premieres on October 2nd at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
What do you think? Have you seen Westworld the movie? Will you watch the HBO TV series?
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