The network has greenlit a TV adaptation of the 1973 sci-fi movie from J.J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub and Bryan Burk.
- Nov 18, 2014
AceShowbiz - "Westworld" is now officially expanding into television. HBO has given a series order to the small-screen adaptation of Michael Crichton's 1973 film for a projected 2015 premiere, with Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden on board to star.
Hailed from executive producers J.J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub and Bryan Burk, the new sci-fi series is described as a "dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin." It's created by "Interstellar" scribe Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.
In his first series-regular role, Hopkins plays Dr. Robert Ford, "the brilliant, taciturn and complicated Creative Director, Chief Programmer and Chairman of the Board of Westworld; Ford has an uncompromising creative vision for the park-and unorthodox methods of achieving it."
Wood stars as the "provincial, beautiful and kind" Dolores Abernathy, who "is the quintessential farm girl of the frontier West-who is about to discover that her entire idyllic existence is an elaborately constructed lie."
Marsden lands the role of Teddy Flood, "a mysterious new arrival to a small frontier town. Teddy quickly proves both his charm-and his talent with a revolver. His pursuit of a local beauty launches him on a dark odyssey."
They are joined in the cast by Ed Harris, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Miranda Otto, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Angela Sarafyan and Simon Quarterman.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the android characters played by Marsden, Wood and Newton can be killed off and return with completely different personas, allowing actors to play many characters. But unlike the actors on FX's "American Horror Story" and HBO's "True Detective" who may or may not return for each new season, the cast of "Westworld" is signing multiyear deals.
The original "Westworld" movie is set in a futuristic theme park populated with robot characters. It starred Yul Brynner as an android in the amusement park. He tormented guests of the park, played by Richard Benjamin and James Brolin.
