HBO has canceled its critically-acclaimed sci-fi drama Westworld after four seasons. The big-budget hit featuring an all-star cast aired its most recent outing earlier this year, and showrunners hoped to wrap things up with a fifth season.
The series, which debuted in 2016, is based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 film and was adapted for television by real-life couple Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy who currently helm Prime Video‘s The Peripheral. Among the show’s large ensemble are Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Ed Harris, Thandiwe Newton, Luke Hemsworth, and Aaron Paul. Meanwhile, James Marsden returned in Season 4 and the series previously featured Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins.
(Credit: John P. Johnson / ©HBO / courtesy Everett Collection)
Westworld initially centered around the titular theme park which is inhabited by “hosts,” where human guests have free reign to do as they please to them. When they begin to wake up and take on a mind of their own chaos ensues in a battle between worlds. Over its run, Westworld picked up several Emmys including a statue for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Newton in 2018.
With four seasons, Westworld closes its doors with 36 episodes across eight years. When TV Insider caught up with Joy following the Season 4 finale, she expressed hopes for a fifth and final season, saying, “We’ve always known that the end would come after the end of the world and it’s now the end of the world, and we’re coming full circle to have Dolores, who was at the mercy of everyone else’s stories, finally tell her own story.”
At the end of Season 4, host Dolores (Wood) was left to write what happens next for those remaining in the wake of a years-long war. Unfortunately for fans, they won’t get to see that ending. “The idea of loops and the loops we live in has been such a motif in this, that the idea to come full circle, and once again, have a Western, but this one dictated by Dolores or Christina or whatever she wants to call herself in this next life, that’s always been the hope,” Joy said at the time.
What do you think of the cancellation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section, below, and in case you wish to revisit the titular theme park, Seasons 1-4 of Westworld are streaming on HBO Max.
Westworld, Seasons 1-4, Streaming now, HBO Max
