Surely one of the most anticipated shows of the fall—if not the most anticipated—is HBO’s sci-fi Western Westworld, and now fresh off a glowing review from Collider’s own Allison Keene, HBO has unveiled a behind-the-scenes look at the series. Inspired by the film of the same name from Michael Crichton, the show stars Anthony Hopkins as a man who runs a massive real-world “theme park” in which humans can exist in the world of the Wild West and interact with its humanoid inhabitants free of inhibition, with sex and murder being the primary vices of choice. However, the humanoids are just as important to the story as the humans, as the show delves into questions of what it means to be human.
In this behind-the-scenes featurette, creators and showrunners Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight) and Lisa Joy discuss the main ideas of the series alongside executive producer J.J. Abrams. It certainly looks to be a dark and violent descent into some incredibly heady questions, albeit with a wildly entertaining premise at its core.
In her review of the series, Allison heaped praise on the show’s intimate nature despite its sprawling setting, comparing it favorably to another huge HBO drama:
Like Game of Thrones, Westworld is a sprawling story, but it’s never as disparate as the world of Westeros and what lies beyond the Narrow Sea. What matters here is the notion that everything is contained, intimate, and carefully crafted, and fans of Crichton will immediately feel the familiarity with his most famous stories’ themes: where what we overly-confident Homo sapiens create and try and control quickly spirals out beyond our abilities.
This is a bit of a change of pace for Nolan, who is coming off of serving as creator/co-showrunner on CBS's Person of Interest, but as a frequent collaborator of his brother's, Christopher Nolan, he's certainly got experience in the realm of dense dramas. Could Westworld be HBO’s “next Game of Thrones” that they’ve been chasing for years now? We’ll find out soon enough as the show debuts on October 2nd.
Watch the featurette below along with a pair of new TV spots.
