HBO-Bad Robot Production series Westworld has been canceled after four seasons, according to Deadline. The series, adapted from the 1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton, is set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, and follows world in which every human appetite can be indulged without consequence. Westworld was created by Lisa Joy (Pushing Daisies, Reminiscence) and Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight, Interstellar), and stars Evan Rachel Wood (The Ides of March, Thirteen), Jeffrey Wright (The Batman, The French Dispatch), and Ed Harris (The Truman Show, Apollo 13).
At New York Comic Con in October, Nolan had stated that he had hoped for a fifth and final season, and Joy had expressed a similar sentiment at the end of season four back in August, according to Deadline. Following the cancellation, HBO released statement calling the series a “mind-bending odyssey” and stating that Nolan and Joy had “[raised] the bar at every step,” via Deadline. Their statement included their thanks to those involved on the project, stating that they are “ tremendously grateful to them, along with their immensely talented cast, producers and crew, and all of our partners at Kilter Films, Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television,” according to Deadline.
Much like the film it was based on, Westworld season one begins with a theme park where the rich would kill android robots and have sex with them until the robots became more human-like and rebelled against the rich, escaping the park and entering the futuristic world where they blended in and wreaked havoc, via Deadline. Season four ended with android Charlotte Hale, played by Tessa Thompson (Creed, Thor: Ragnorak), closing the Valley of the Beyond, heaven where the souls of the androids went, and in the process crushing her own soul, according to Deadline. Hosts would continually be destroyed and revived later on, leaving the possibility of a season five up in the air, via Deadline.
With Westworld canceled, Bad Robot Productions now has no series on air with HBO, according to Deadline. Bad Robot’s recent series Demimonde was canceled back in June over some budget issues, with the price reaching $200 million, via Deadline. Other Bad Robot series include Lost, Alias, Fringe, Revolution, Constantine and Madame X.
Many factors went into making the decision to end the series, including the large production costs, dwindling viewership, and an ongoing evaluation of HBO’s programming, according to Variety.According to Variety, HBO has also been holding back spending as part of a plan to save $3.5 billion, which the company plans to find over the next three years post the merger with Discovery. Season three of Westworld cost $100 million to produce. The ratings for Westworld had frittered away, and Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav emphasized that he was not going to pay millions for low ratings, exclaiming that the “experiment of creating something at any cost is over,” according to Deadline.