Last year HBO announced it was turning Michael “JURASSIC PARK” Crichton’s WESTWORLD into a TV series, and if it were anyone other than Home Box Office I’d have told them not to bother. There were attempts to remake the 1973 film which made more sense, but an entire season of faulty robot-based escapades…? The show Beyond Westworld didn’t fare well but still… the pedigree alone is enough to hold anyone’s interest. Add to that the production team of one J.J. Abrams and Jerry Weintraub (TARZAN), not to mention Jonathan Nolan (THE DARK KNIGHT, Person Of Interest) and it gets better. But the new casting announcement of Anthony Hopkins and Evan Rachel Wood has officially kicked this project into the watch zone for me.
This version appears to take the emphasis away from theme parks gone wrong and has reimagined the concept as a TRUMAN SHOW-type exploration of identity and artificial intelligence. Hopkins will play the tempestuous architect of Westworld Dr.Robert Ford – he’s done everybody from C.S. Lewis to Hitler but TV marks a new frontier for the veteran actor. He’s one of those personalities where you’re never sure what he’s going to do next, whether phoning it in somewhat spectacularly in THE WOLFMAN or crafting one of the all time great screen characters in THE REMAINS OF THE DAY. Wood meanwhile is an excellent character performer whose output ranges from WHATEVER WORKS to True Blood. She is Dolores Abernathy, an unwitting player in Hopkins’ game. The script comes from Nolan and his wife Lisa Joy Nolan. X-MEN’s James Marsden is wanted for a main role.
I find the current crop of movie-derived shows where gifted showrunners are handed other peoples’ material to pass off as their own a bit wearying. However, while unoriginal, this project looks like it could have a fair amount of horizon to head towards with its parched setting and contemporary edge.
Westworld is in production via HBO, Bad Robot and Warner Bros Television.
Source: Deadline
