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HBO order Crichton's 'Westworld' series, Anthony Hopkins & Evan Rachel Wood to star

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Arment

Member
I can't decide if this shatters my dreams of there being a Dark Tower series on HBO or inspires hope for it.

Either way I'm excited for this. Abrams made it to HBO.
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Anthony Hopkins Boards J.J. Abrams' HBO Sci-Fi Pilot Westworld

The Silence of the Lambs star’s first TV gig will have him playing the man in charge of a futuristic theme park where robots go berserk and attack park guests.

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Evan Rachel Wood (Once and Again) also has been cast in the pilot; she’ll play Dolores Abernathy, a sweet, Midwestern farm girl who has a very rude awakening during the series.

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YES
 

Ashok

Banned
A new Bad Robot series with cable resources? With Anthony Hopkins? YES PLEASE. Ridiculously hyped for this.
 

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
Evan Rachel Wood gets my blood boiling since i saw her naked in Mildred Pierce so yes I'll watch
 
- EW: 'Hunger Games,' 'Raising Hope' actors join HBO's 'Westworld'
HBO’s Westworld is filling out its cast. The sci-fi drama series from producers J.J. Abrams and Jerry Weintraub has enlisted actors from The Hunger Games saga, Fox’s Raising Hope, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, among others.

The six new hires join previously cast stars Anthony Hopkins and Evan Rachel Wood. The pilot is based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 film set in a futuristic theme park where androids fulfill dark human desires. Below are the actors and their official role descriptions from producer Warner Bros., which provide more description about the show than what’s been released previously. One of the parts, filled by Rodrigo Santoro, seems to be HBO’s version of Yul Brynner‘s iconic killer cowboy character from the original film.

– Jeffrey Wright (HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, The Hunger Games franchise and the James Bond films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) as Bernard Lowe: “The brilliant and quixotic head of the park’s Programming Division, Bernard’s keen observation of human nature provides him with boundless inspiration for his life’s work—creating artificial people.”

– Rodrigo Santoro (Focus, The 33) as Harlan Bell: “Terrifying and brutal, with a dark sense of humor, Harlan is Westworld’s perennial “Most Wanted” bandit. He subscribes to the theory that the West is a wild place, and the only way to survive is to embrace the role of predator.”

– Shannon Woodward (Raising Hope) as Elsie King: “A sardonic rising star in the Programming division, Elsie is charged with diagnosing the odd quirks of behaviors in the park’s hosts.”

– Ingrid Bolsø Berdal (Hercules, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters) as Armistice: “A savage fighter and brutal bandit, her ruthlessness with her victims is surpassed only by her abiding loyalty to her fellow outlaws.”

– Angela Sarafyan (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2) as Clementine Pennyfeather: “One of Westworld’s most popular attractions, every aspect of Clementine is perfectly beguiling, by design.”

– Simon Quarterman (The Devil Inside) as Lee Sizemore: “The narrative director of Westworld, his inspired storylines consistently delight or terrify the guests—and his artistic temperament consistently grates on his colleagues.”
 

Ovid

Member
I watched this film with a friend two weeks. I saw the boxart and thought it was going to be shit.

Boy, was I wrong. This movie was pretty amazing.
 

ЯAW

Banned
Sounds good. Hbo is on fire with upcoming shows. Another WW show by Hanks/Spielberg and show by Steve McQueen and now this.
 

turtle553

Member
Based on the original film and the premise, I'm not sure how they are going to turn this into a series...

I can see a season about the development of the park, the androids, and little issues coming up every episode. Also some philosophical debates about human surrogates. I would find it interesting, but I don't know how many others would unless there was a few killings each week.
 

FStop7

Banned
Your move.


If you haven't seen the original film you owe it to yourself to watch it.

It was The Terminator long before Cameron and Arnold.
 
- 'X-Men' actor James Marsden cast in 'Westworld'
Marsden (Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Anchorman 2) has joined the HBO sci-fi drama about a futuristic theme park filled with android residents that fulfill human desires. The actor will play Teddy Flood, who is described as “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.”
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Eddie Rouse & More Join HBO Drama Pilot ‘Westworld’

Rouse will play Kissy (short for Kisecawchuck), an American Indian who deals cards, and contraband, from the town saloon, making him an expert in games both on and off the card table.

Also booked roles in Westworld are Demetrius Grosse (Banshee, Justified), Kyle Bornheimer (She’s Out of My League, Bachelorette), Currie Graham (Murder in the First, NYPD Blue), Lena Georgas (Prime Suspect, Ray Donovan), Steven Ogg (Grand Theft Auto V) and Timothy Lee DePriest.
 
Alright, I've seen Westworld and they've got a great Sci-fi concept to play with.

Imagine living out your fantasy of having Deadwood, Rome, or Game of Thrones as your own personal theme parks. Places that look authentic, but are populated with your fellow human guests that came along for the experience, but the parks are mostly populated by androids. Think of all the fun and joy to be had. All the fantasies you can live out.

Then consider what could happen the theme park operators lost control and you have to deal with the OG Terminator, who just happens to be a gunslinger.

It's an early 70's movie from a filmmaking perspective, 1973 to be exact, but the concept holds up incredibly well.
 
I hope that in this iteration, they don't stick mostly to the western themed part of the park, like they do in the movie. Since it's a series, I think it would be cool to see some stories running congruently in all the different attractions.

Plus, are we gonna have sympathetic sentient androids too? Because if the robots are all just mindless killing machines, I'm not sure how that can be sustained as a series.

Heck yes. :)
 

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
Alright, I've seen Westworld and they've got a great Sci-fi concept to play with.

Imagine living out your fantasy of Game of Thrones as your own personal theme parks...

A medieval fantasy setting would be cool. HBO could maybe even use some of the Game of Thrones sets when they're not in use to save money :3
 

FStop7

Banned
So... without getting too spoilery about the original film... it's a relatively early story about the morality of 'mistreating' lifelike machines. There's Westworld, Medieval World, and Roman World. In Westworld the tourists get into staged gunfights with androids, who are 'killed' by said tourists over, and over, over. In the Roman and Medieval Worlds there are orgies and feasts, I believe there's a scene of a tourist chasing down a female android for the purpose of raping it, too. Which of course poses the question - what is life, can these very intelligent and lifelike androids refuse to participate in this existence of being used as murder/sex puppets for humans tourists, do they retain some memory of what happened to them previously after their nightly 'reboots', etc.

It's a Crichton story, very much a precursor of Jurassic Park.
 
- EW: Ed Harris cast in HBO's 'Westworld'
Ed Harris is coming to series TV: The Abyss and Apollo 13 actor has signed on as the Big Bad in HBO’s Westworld reboot.

The four-time Oscar nominee’s character is called The Man in Black, and is described as “the distillation of pure villainy into one man.” He joins previously cast star — and fellow series television newcomer—Anthony Hopkins, along with Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, and Shannon Woodward.
 

jesu

Member
I loved Westworld as a kid, never knew Michael Chrichton was involved back then though.
I'm looking forward to this.
 
Btw, 'future of sin" makes sense having seen it.

Maybe,
Cyclops is in love with Evan Rachel Wood character who doesn't realize she's a robot yet.
 
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