HBO's "Westworld" (Season 4)

[Walts Ghost]

HBO Making New ‘Westworld’ Series With JJ Abrams and Jonathan Nolan

You probably know what Westworld is, because Michael Chritchton’s movie cast Yul Brynner (above) as a gunslinger robot that went amok at a theme park, and the images of Brynner are among the most famous in sci-fi.

You know who J.J. Abrams is, because he’s had his hands in everything from Lost to Mission: Impossible to Star Trek to Star Wars. And you know who Jonah Nolan is, because he worked on the scripts for films such as The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Interstellar, and created the show Person of Interest.

Now they’re all coming together (with producer Jerry Weintraub, who produced, among many other films, the three Steven Soderbergh Ocean’s movies, in which he also cameoed) to make a new Westworld for HBO.

Deadline has the deal announcement, and also an interesting description of the show:

Nolan will direct the pilot, which he scripted with Lisa Joy (Burn Notice). The site says that HBO’s commitment to the series is among the network’s biggest, but doesn’t offer details to substantiate or explain why.

There has been a Westworld show before, called Beyond Westworld. The short-lived series was meant to expand upon the original film and its sequel Futureworld, but only a few episodes were ever aired.

The idea of HBO making a new version is tantalizing. HBO is certainly the place for a deeply character-driven televised exploration of AI, its development and ramifications. The original Westworld concept, combined with the examination of “the future of sin,” could be something that stands perfectly alongside Game of Thrones as smart adult entertainment. As frustrating as the creatively limited idea of mining old sci-fi for remakes can be, there’s a lot of potential here.

Source

[HDMe]

This could either be good or horrible... Even if it is good, though, I wonder how long they could run such a series before the premise wore out.

I enjoy Westworld and Futureworld... but I wonder just how many episodes of a weekly TV show you can get out of the concept.

I would definitely give it a shot and watch, though.

[stvn1974]

When it comes to classic sci-fi it is nice to see Abrams is not content with just ruining Star Trek.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

When it comes to classic sci-fi it is nice to see Abrams is not content with just ruining Star Trek.

[leey]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

When it comes to classic sci-fi it is nice to see Abrams is not content with just ruining Star Trek.

Funny. JJ got me into being able to sit through a Star Trek movie, two actually.

[Walts Ghost]

Originally Posted by leey

Funny. JJ got me into being able to sit through a Star Trek movie, two actually.

Some people forget movies aren't made just for fans. I grew up on 'Star Trek', but I loved what Abrams did with the movies. I don't get the bitterness.

[i007spectre]

Same here.

[Elandyll]

Actually looking forward to it, West World is one of my favorite classic Sci Fi movies from the 70s.

Thinking about Michael Crichton, I wish they would also revisit Looker sometime. Love the movie, but it is very flawed and quite dated now, and I'm sure a competent director and a decent budget could do wonders with today's emphasis on social medias, appearances and virtual everything.

Looker trailer - YouTube

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

Thinking about Michael Crichton, I wish they would also revisit Looker sometime. Love the movie, but it is very flawed and quite dated now, and I'm sure a competent director and a decent budget could do wonders with today's emphasis on social medias, appearances and virtual everything.

Although Looker was more about the abuse of television's influence on the public, and the saturation of television advertising.
Umm.....yeah. Welcome to 1981.

The original Westworld concept, combined with the examination of “the future of sin,” could be something that stands perfectly alongside Game of Thrones as smart adult entertainment

"The future of sin"?? Now, wait just a darn minute--
I'll give you the Roman section of the park, but the original Westworld was written during the hoo-hah hype for the technical innovations of Walt Disney World opening in 1971 (oo, it's got a robot Lincoln!), and the natural idea of where theme parks would go after that. (The robots weren't "rebelling", it was just the idea of what would happen if security programs went down--But then, when Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't shoot the guests....Or wait, has somebody used that line already?)

But after Richard Benjamin had his night with a robot saloon gal....that was ALL FUTUREWORLD COULD TALK ABOUT! Delos was made to look like the first cyber-brothel.
If Abrams is stuck on that same scene too...yes, I think it's kinda cool too, but get over it, people!!

(Sheesh, and I always worry that people will think I'm horny for getting a picture with Jasmine every Disney trip, just because she's the only Princess in a bikini top...)

[Dreamliner330]

JJ Abrams + Jonathan Nolan.........



I love sci-fi, but don't much like westerns...though I really enjoyed Cowboys and Aliens...


Can't wait.


Now accepting...HBO Go logins....

[leey]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

Some people forget movies aren't made just for fans. I grew up on 'Star Trek', but I loved what Abrams did with the movies. I don't get the bitterness.

Which is the highest compliment he could receive, coming from a Trekkie. To me, he brought new life into that universe drowned in its own spin-offs that didn't age well

[Dreamliner330]

Originally Posted by leey

Which is the highest compliment he could receive, coming from a Trekkie. To me, he brought new life into that universe drowned in its own spin-offs that didn't age well

I enjoyed TNG and Voyager, never got into TOS, I love the new movies...but admittedly, it doesn't feel like Star Trek anymore, it feels like a sci-fi action film. That's probably what most Trek fans complain about.

[SquidPuppet]

When is the premiere? I am ready NOW!!!

[Monolithium]

Originally Posted by Walts Ghost

Some people forget movies aren't made just for fans. I grew up on 'Star Trek', but I loved what Abrams did with the movies. I don't get the bitterness.

It's not like JJ is keeping the original films and multiple TV series from seeing the light of day. Trekkies/Trekkers will always have their universe.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

When is the premiere? I am ready NOW!!!

Same here. Everything with this seems to be lined up pretty well for me.

[HDMe]

Originally Posted by Monolithium

It's not like JJ is keeping the original films and multiple TV series from seeing the light of day. Trekkies/Trekkers will always have their universe.

100% agree!

And... even IF he "ruins" Star Trek, he isn't "ruining" it with the original actors... Arguably many people thought some of the Star Trek movies with the original crew nearly "ruined" Star Trek too.

For the record... I liked the Abrams Trek... and am looking forward to seeing Into Darkness in a couple of weeks.

[Al_The_Strange]

I think this will be awesome.

[Monolithium]

I love Person of Interest, so anything these two are involved in is instantly placed on the "must watch" list.

[jvorhees]

Not a fan of a lot of JJ's work (Super 8, new Star Trek) but really like Lost and Person Of Interest. Love the original West World, so Im hyped for this and will give it a chance.

[theusher]

Anthony Hopkins & Evan Rachel Wood To Star In HBO Pilot ‘Westworld’

After True Detective, toplined by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the casting bar for HBO‘s new drama series is pretty high. Enter the pay cable network’s pilot Westworld, which has locked in Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins and Evan Rachel Wood for lead roles.

The project, inspired by Michael Crichton’s 1973 sci-fi movie set at an amusement park, hails from from J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot, Person Of Interest creator Jonathan Nolan, writer Lisa Joy Nolan, producer Jerry Weintraub and Warner Bros TV. It landed at HBO a year ago with one of the biggest commitments ever for the premium network, a pilot production commitment, and now has been officially greenlighted to pilot with Hopkins and Wood on board.

Described as a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin, the series will keep the setting of the movie, which starred Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin and introduced new digital visual techniques.

In his first TV series role, Hopkins will play Dr. Robert Ford, the brilliant, taciturn and complicated creative director, chief programmer and chairman of the board of Westworld who has an uncompromising creativehbologo3 vision for the park — and unorthodox methods of achieving it. Wood plays the provincial, beautiful and kind Dolores Abernathy, the quintessential farm girl of the frontier West — who is about to discover that her entire idyllic existence is an elaborately constructed lie.

Also in talks for a lead role in the pilot is James Marsden. This marks Wood’s return to HBO where she had a recurring role on True Blood and co-starred in the miniseries Mildred Pierce. Husband-and-wife duo Jonah and Lisa Joy Nolan wrote the script and are executive producing Westworld with Abrams, Weintraub and Bryan Burk. Jonah also will direct.

http://www.deadline.com/2014/07/anth...medium=twitter