When HBOhalted productionon their highly-anticipatedWestworldin January, the network said it was to give creatorsJonathan NolanandLisa Joymore time to work on the scripts for this season, but now it seems that was only partially true. With the premiere getting closer and closer, series starJames Marsdenreveals the delay really happened so the creators can actually map out the entire series. Here’s what the actor had to say below.
“It wasn’t about getting the first 10 [episodes] done, it was about mapping out what the next 5 or 6 years are going to be. We wanted everything in line so that when the very last episode airs and we have our show finale, five or seven years down the line, we knew how it was going to end the first season - that’s the way Jonah and [executive producerJ.J. Abrams] operate. They’re making sure all the ducks are in the row. And it’s a testament to Jonah and Lisa and HBO that we got them right, especially the last three scripts. They could have rushed them and get spread too thin. They got them right, and when they were right, we went and shot them. The greatest work never comes easy and, in my opinion, that’s what we were dealing with. This show is very ambitious and grand in scale and in themes and very expensive with a giant cast. And bigger than all of that is what this show wants to say.”
The report from January revealed that HBO was still planning a 2016 premiere for the show, which was first given a pilot production commitment by HBO back in August 2013. The network debuted thefirst trailerin May, before announcing last month that the series will premiere on October 8. The series is based onMichael Crichton’s book about a futuristic amusement park where all of your wildest dreams can come true.Jonathan Nolan, who co-wroteThe Dark Knightand numerous other movies with his brotherChristohper Nolan, revealed toEntertainment Weeklythat they want to make each season distinct.
“We didn’t want to have a story that repeated itself [each year]. We didn’t want theFantasy Islandversion of this [where new guests arrive at the park every season]. We wanted a big story. We wanted the story of the origin of anew speciesand how that would play out in its complexity.”
We also have four new photos fromWestworld, following theextended trailerthat debuted a few weeks ago. The photos give us a new look atAnthony Hopkinsas Dr. Robert Ford, who runs this high-tech amusement park,Evan Rachel Woodas Dolores, a naive “prairie girl host,“Ed Harrisas the Man in Black, a frequent human guest who appears to have nefarious plans afoot, andJames Marsdenas Teddy Flood, who will be at the heart of the show’s twists and turns. Take a look at the new photos below.
