And once again a series has been prematurely cancelled – this time not by Netflix or Prime Video, but by the “House Of The Dragon” channel HBO. And the shock for fans runs deep: “Westworld” was cancelled shortly before the finale.
Four seasons of the ambitious sci-fi series “Westworld” by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy are already available, in many places on HBO, in Germany on Sky and WOW (formerly Sky Ticket). A fifth and final season was to follow – but that will now never happen. HBO has surprisingly cancelled “Westworld” after the fourth season.
Surprising above all because even though the audience appeal and the quality of the sci-fi series may have waned, it is still unusual to cancel a major series so close to the finish line. Deadline claims to have learned exclusively from its sources that the main cast of the series around Evan Rachel Wood, Ed Harris, Thandiwe Newton and Jeffrey Wright will be paid for the fifth season, even if it will now never be produced. This means that a so-called pay-or-play deal has already been made with the actors and actresses to secure their availability for a fifth season.
SERIES CREATOR HOPED FOR SEASON 5 OF “WESTWORLD “
UNTIL THE VERY END.
Just a few weeks ago at New York Comic-Con, co-series creator Jonathan Nolan, brother of star director Christopher Nolan, expressed hope that HBO would extend “Westworld” for a fifth and final season to bring the series’ storyline to a proper conclusion: “We’ve always planned on a fifth and final season. We’re still in talks with the network and very much hope to do it.” Instead, the story now remains unfinished after the cliffhanger ending of season 4.
The sci-fi series “Westworld”, with its very convoluted storytelling and many mysteries, is based on the film of the same name by Michael Crichton. It is about an amusement park where guests can live out their fantasies in themed worlds populated by androids – for example in the Wild West. But the androids called hosts begin to develop a consciousness of their own…
When “Westworld” started on HBO in 2016, the series was heavily celebrated for its innovative ideas, the complexity of its content and its excellent show values, and has so far received a total of 54 Emmy nominations. But the viewer numbers dropped drastically, which could also be due to the complicated mythology and the strongly philosophical subject matter. While around 12 million people watched the first season on HBO, according to The Hollywood Reporter it was only 4 million for season 4. The fourth season is said to have cost at least 160 million US dollars.
