HBO has been tight-lipped concerning the second season of its hugely popular series Westworld, and fans are growing increasingly curious as to what the network is planning for Season 2 and when production will begin. Curiously, recent news of the Westworld production schedule came not from any HBO press release, but from a set of government documents.
Fox 13, a news channel from Salt Lake City, Utah, reported that documents from Utah’s Governor Gary Herbert confirmed that Westworld Season 2 is set to begin filming in the state this October. Utah was used in Season 1 to depict the show’s western theme park, helping the show capture the feel of the American Midwest through practical effects as opposed to depending on CGI. The Season 2 shoot is scheduled to wrap at the end of November, with post-production expected to begin soon after and end in April of 2018. The documents also revealed that Utah has encouraged HBO to use the state to film, offering up to $780,000 in tax credits.
While this confirms that Westworld will begin its location filming in Utah this fall, actors on the series have suggested that filming for the series outside of Utah might begin even earlier. In an interview with Hollywood Reporter, Thandie Newton, who plays Maeve Millay in the series, suggested that she’d begin shooting next month. When asked what she is most looking forward to in Season 2, Newton responded, “Oh, I don’t know. I mean, if it was more of the same, I’d still love it. But I won’t know until July when I go back to shoot. I feel like it can go in so many different directions, and that’s just so exciting.” This could mean that Westworld will begin shooting in the studio over the summer, filming interior scenes that take place in the park’s lab building before the cast moves on to shooting exterior scenes in Utah.
Newton was not the only one to hint that filming for Season 2 will begin sooner rather than later. Last week, Evan Rachel Wood took to Twitter and posted a link of her wearing a corset to prep for the infamous cornflower blue dress that her character Dolores Abernathy wears, playfully implying that Westworld shooting begins quite soon.
All of these details prove very exciting for the show’s passionate fan-base, who has been eagerly awaiting Season 2 since the very moment Season 1 ended last winter. Westworld Season 2 is expected to air some time in 2018.