Westworld finally has a premiere date.
After the production struggled to get off the ground for all kinds of reasons, the sci-fi/western series Westworld will finally see the light of day. Earlier this year, HBO announced Westworld would premiere this fall, and then today the cabler finally announced that the series will premiere on Sunday, October 2.
Westworld was adapted for TV by Jonathan Nolan (Interstellar, The Dark Knight) and Lisa Joy (Pushing Daisies, Burn Notice). Both Nolan and Joy are writing and producing the series with Nolan set to direct.
Westworld is based on the 1973 Michale Crichton film of the same name. The original film starred James Brolin and Richard Benjamin who played two friends visiting a high-tech theme park where people can experience three different eras/worlds. The theme park is divided into three parks: Roman World, Medieval World, and West World.
In the original film, each “world” is populated with androids who help create the illusion of authenticity by acting as the “natives” of each area. Yul Brynner starred in the 1973 film as the Gunslinger, an android in West World who challenged visitors to pistol duels. After a virus turns all the robots into crazed killing machines, the Gunslinger becomes obsessed with killing the two main characters.
Co-creator Nolan explains, “Building on the incredibly evocative concept of the original film, we wanted to pose the question: If you could be completely immersed in a fantasy, one in which you could do whatever you wanted, would you discover things about yourself that you didn’t want to know?”
Co-creator Joy adds, “We also wanted to explore what it means to be human from the outside in – through the eyes of the ‘hosts’: the lifelike AI characters that are the main attractions of the park. It’s a meditation on consciousness – the blessing and the burden of it – beautifully portrayed by our remarkable cast.”
HBO’s Westworld will star Ben Barnes, Jimmi Simpson, Ed Harris, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, and Anthony Hopkins.
Check out the latest trailer below.