Westworld just premiered its second season, but what about a third? Recently, creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy spoke with EW about the future of the HBO TV show.
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.
Although HBO has not yet announced a season three renewal for Westworld, Nolan revealed there is an endgame in mind:
When we wrote the pilot we thought we’d get a bit further [into the story during season 1] than we did. The shape of the season emerges as you get down to writing. We want to feel like the show is rocketing ahead, and want to be fearless. We have an idea about how this breaks down but it’s not so much the number of seasons but the ambition of the story we’re telling. These hosts don’t live on the same timeframe we do and don’t have the four-year lifespan as [Blade Runner] Replicants. If left to their own devices, they could live forever. So our story has some real scope to it. There’s a story here with a beginning and middle and end. To that end, we don’t like to endlessly build mystery. We like to settle our debts by the end of the season. We view each season as a self-contained chapter and the questions [raised at the start of each season] are largely answered by the end of each season. We want each season to feel satisfying the way a film franchise feels satisfying with each film. We want you excited to come back after 18 months but that you haven’t been left hanging on the edge of a cliffhanger — that doesn’t really feel fair to the audience.”
So what are the chances of a third season? Nolan said there are ongoing talks with HBO:
It’s an ongoing conversation with our friends at HBO, and for us, with a show of this scope and scale, we’re not interested in doing the compromised version. We want the show to get bigger and bigger and more ambitious and this takes time. We want to take all the time we need to get it right.”
What do you think? Are you a fan of Westworld? Do you want a third season?