Jonathan Nolan And J.J. Abrams Set To Remake WESTWORLD For HBO

Jonathan Nolan And J.J. Abrams Set To Remake WESTWORLD For HBO

HBO has given a pilot production commitment to Bad Robot and Warner Bros. TV for a series adaptation of the 1973 Yul Brynner cult classic “Westworld,” to be written and helmed by Jonathan Nolan.

By AquamanEatsSeafood - Aug 31, 2013 06:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Westworld
Source: Variety.com
Nolan and TV scribe Lisa Joy, who are married, are set to co-write the pilot script, with Nolan set to direct the pilot. Nolan and Joy will serve as exec producers with Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk and Jerry Weintraub. The original pic was written and directed by Michael Crichton.

The HBO rendition of “Westworld” is described as “a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin.” The pilot production commitment is a big one by HBO’s standards, indicated the depth of the pay cabler’s interest in the project.




Weintraub has been trying to get a feature remake of “Westworld” off the ground for years — Arnold Schwarzenegger was attached at one point but had to bow out after he became governor of California in 2003. Weintraub has been busy at HBO in recent years, most recently fielding the successful Liberace telepic “Behind the Candelabra.”

Original “Westworld” also starred Richard Benjamin and James Brolin as vacationers at an adult-themed amusement park who are tormented by a robot modeled as a Western gunslinger, played by Brynner. A sequel with Brynner, Blythe Danner and Peter Fonda was released in 1976, while CBS tried a small screen spin on the concept, “Beyond Westworld,” that lasted three airings in March 1980.

Much like ’70s cult-sci-fi favorite Logan’s Run, launching a Westworld remake has faced years of obstacles. Names like Mirror Mirror director Tarsem Singh, Quentin Tarantino, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Russell Crowe have all been attached at one point, with producer Jerry Weintraub now looking to TV as his best bet to get this long-gestating project off the ground.

This project marks the next series collaboration between Nolan and Bad Robot, who are entering season 3 of CBS’s hit series Person of Interest. HBO’s pilot commitment denotes their faith in Westworld, which was followed up by a movie sequel, Futureworld and a short-lived TV series, Beyond Westworld.

Bad Robot’s Kathy Lingg is on board “Westworld” as a co-exec producer; Athena Wickham will produce.

Westworld has a much lower profile than J.J. Abrams’ other two famous sci-fi properties (his rebooted Star Trek franchise and a little film called Star Wars: Episode VII), but it’s another chance to put some kind of fingerprint on a property which still somehow resonates throughout geek culture, even if its been on the margins for decades. The original film has its campy (yet weirdly sinister) pleasures, but expect Jonathan Nolan to put a grounded, somewhat realistic spin on the premise.
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DutchMovieFan
DutchMovieFan - 8/31/2013, 6:38 AM
Well, this sounds interesting!
Effusion
Effusion - 8/31/2013, 6:47 AM
Count me in.
Supes17
Supes17 - 8/31/2013, 7:04 AM
Multi-taskin muthafucckas
marvel72
marvel72 - 8/31/2013, 7:29 AM
michael crichton "theme park gone wrong trilogy"

1st westworld
2nd futureworld
3rd jurassic park
WaffeX
WaffeX - 8/31/2013, 7:37 AM
Greengo
Greengo - 8/31/2013, 10:37 AM
That dude looks like Christian Bale.
PenditaMarah
PenditaMarah - 8/31/2013, 11:18 AM
I wish that jonah nolan direct next batman movie.he was great as producer and director for 'point of interest'.
DaVinci31
DaVinci31 - 8/31/2013, 11:29 AM
Indy
Indy - 8/31/2013, 11:55 AM
Michael Crichton Novel are great never heard of Westworld? I want see the pirates latitude movie come on Spielberg do it. O and Mirco the movie I like to see that one. It be like Jurassic Park and honey I shrunk the kids in one Movie.
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 8/31/2013, 12:29 PM
Sounds good. I'm interested.
IIIAdamantiumIII
IIIAdamantiumIII - 8/31/2013, 2:38 PM
the movie is a classic but I can see the concept really take flight with today's advances
PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 8/31/2013, 4:34 PM
Westworld was a nice little movie. And it inspired elements of Halloween. It had one of those sequels that pissed on the original but it was still cool.

But I'm weary of Jar Jar Abrams f**king with classic material. He's a glorified hack!
Like Rob Zombie with Halloween, Jar Jar Abrams is messing with creations of better men. Creations he does not understand and could never hope to make.

People compare Jar Jar Abrams to Spielberg but at this point in Spielberg's career he was doing Jaws, Close Encounters and E.T. He wasn't just tampering with films done by others more creative then he. He was actually daring to create films different, fresh and new.

Jar Jar Abrams is nothing more than another Michael Bay. He won't even be able to do 'Westworld' right. Jar Jar Abrams sucks!
ClarkFarley2012
ClarkFarley2012 - 8/31/2013, 5:25 PM
Uh what??
superbatspiderman
superbatspiderman - 8/31/2013, 6:25 PM
Sounds interesting.
ndwwrestler2
ndwwrestler2 - 9/1/2013, 12:32 PM
@Thegeekygurl Really? Glorified hack? That insult is way overused on directors/writers.

All you sound like right now is a butthurt Star Trek fan. If Michael Bay signed on for Star Trek 3, you would BEG Abrams to come back.

Comparing JJ Abrams to Rob Zombie & Michael Bay? Really?
He's actually created GOOD stuff.

Does JJ get more praise than he should? Maybe. But that's no reason to call him a glorified hack. It's just sounds like your just hating.
PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 9/1/2013, 1:27 PM
@ndwwrestler2 When I see Jar Jar Abrams playing around with classics and turning them into meaningless drivelings, and he gets acclaim for it then I equate that as a Glorified Hack.
Actually,Zombie's Halloween was better than Abrams American Pie-Trek.

Abrams has yet to direct one good film. He directs feature length trailers.
ndwwrestler2
ndwwrestler2 - 9/1/2013, 1:33 PM
@Thegeekygurl

Ok. You're definitely one of THOSE Star Trek fans.
opencurtain
opencurtain - 9/1/2013, 1:51 PM
I've been waiting for this remake for years , It's going to be hard to replace Brynner !
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