Westworld Information

Westworld is an upcoming science fiction thriller television series created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy for HBO, based on the 1973 film of the same name, which was written and directed by American novelist Michael Crichton. Nolan will serve as executive producer along with Joy, J. J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk with Nolan directing the pilot.

Described as "a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin," the series tells the story of a futuristic amusement park called Westworld.

Cast and characters

• Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Robert Ford, the brilliant creative director of Westworld.
• James Marsden as Teddy Flood, a newly-arrived gunslinger in pursuit of a local beauty.
• Evan Rachel Wood as Dolores Abernathy, a Western girl who discovers her entire life is an elaborately constructed lie.
• Jeffrey Wright as Bernard Lowe, head of the Westworld Programming Division and creator of artificial people.
• Thandie Newton as Maeve Millay, the beautiful and sharp madame of Westworld.
• Miranda Otto as Virginia Pittmann, head of Westworld's Quality Assurance and a ruthless power player.
• Rodrigo Santoro as Harlan Bell, a wanted man bent on survival.
• Ed Harris as the Man in Black, a mysterious villain.
• Shannon Woodward as Elsie King, a rising star in the Programming Division tasked with odd behavior in the park's artificial beings.
• Ingrid Bols Berdal as Armistice, a brutal and ruthless bandit.
• Angela Sarafyan as Clementine Pennyfeather, an artifical being and one of Westworld's most popular attractions.
• Simon Quarterman as Lee Sizemore, Westworld's narrative director, whose artistic temperament aggravates his co-workers.
• Eddie Rouse as Kissy, an American-Indian card dealer who also deals contraband goods.
• Ptolemy Slocum as Sylvester.

Kyle Bornheimer, Demetrius Grosse, Currie Graham, Lena Georgas, Steven Ogg and Timothy Lee DePriest have also been cast in unspecified roles.

Production

Development

Warner Bros. had been considering a remake of Westworld since the early 1990s and after the departure of studio executive Jessica Goodman in 2011, the project was again under consideration. A feature film remake did not happen, and on August 31, 2013 it was announced that premium cable channel HBO had ordered a pilot for a potential television series version of the story, with Jonathan Nolan directing and co-writing with Lisa Joy. Nolan, Joy, J. J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk will be executive producing.

HBO announced on November 17, 2014 that Westworld had been taken to series and would premiere sometime in 2015. It will be the second series based on Crichton's original story after 1980's Beyond Westworld, which aired only three episodes on CBS before being cancelled.

Casting

Anthony Hopkins and Evan Rachel Wood were the first cast members to be formally announced, taking on the roles of Dr. Robert Ford and Dolores Abernathy, respectively. Jeffrey Wright, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bols Berdal, Angela Sarafyan, and Simon Quarterman were all announced as cast members in August 2014. James Marsden and Eddie Rouse were also added to the cast. Ed Harris was cast in a key villain role, known only as the Man in Black. Other roles were filled by Demetrius Grosse, Kyle Bornheimer, Currie Graham, Lena Georgas, Steven Ogg, Timothy Lee DePriest, Ptolemy Slocum, Thandie Newton, and Miranda Otto.

Filming

Filming for the pilot took place in July and August 2014 in and around Los Angeles, California.