Does HBO have another hit series on their hands? The talent assembled to bring the Westworld series to life is definitely nothing to sneeze at. And the high sci-fi concept should certainly supply script writers with plenty of material.
It will be interesting to see whether the show is constructed so that audiences sympathize with the androids or with the humans. Hopefully, well worn tropes such as a human character secretly being an android are avoided. In looking at the trailers and other footage released for the show, one has to wonder if the western elements and themes of Westworld will remain prevalent throughout the entire 10 episode season? The subject matter definitely carries a risk that the show quickly become purely science-fiction.
ABOUT WESTWORLD
Westworld is an upcoming HBO drama executive produced by Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Buck. It's based on the 1973 film of the same name, which was directed by Michael Crichton and starred Yul Brynne, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin. A sequel, Futureworld, was released in 1976 and a tv series, Beyond Westworld, premiered in 1980. The new series is scheduled to premiere on HBO at 9PM est on Sunday, October 2. The cast includes Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Woods, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Rodrigo Santoro, Ben Barnes, Luke Hemsworth and Clifton Collins Jr.
OFFICIAL HBO SYNOPSIS: As another day of fantasy plays out in Westworld – a vast, remote park where guests pay top dollar to share wild-west adventures with android “hosts” – top programmer Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) alerts park founder Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) about incidents of aberrant behavior cropping up in some recently re-coded hosts. Meanwhile, in the Westworld town of Sweetwater, a rancher’s daughter named Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) encounters a gunslinger named Teddy (James Marsden) in the street – but their predictable narrative is upended by the appearance of a ruthless Man in Black (Ed Harris) and, later, by a supporting host’s unscripted encounter with an artifact of the outside world.