New Sci-fi Show Westworld Is Mapped Out for the "Next 5 or 6 years"

When production on HBO's new sci-fi drama Westworld was suddenly halted earlier this year, there was much speculation that the show had run into serious trouble. It has now been reported that its creators in fact chose to pause filming in order to map out no fewer than five seasons of the show.

At the time, co-showrunner Lisa Joy explained that the pause was to allow the writers "the time to catch up on scripts." But as Entertainment Weekly reports, this meant a lot more than just completing season 1.

"It wasn't about getting the first 10 [episodes] done, it was about mapping out what the next five or six years are going to be," actor James Marsden told the site. "We wanted everything in line so that when the very last episode airs and we have our show finale, five or seven years down the line, we knew how it was going to end the first season.

"That's the way Jonah [co-showrunner Jonathan Nolan] and [executive producer J.J. Abrams] operate. They're making sure all the ducks are in the row. And it's a testament to them that we got them right, especially the last three scripts. They could have rushed them and get spread too thin. They got them right, and when they were right, we went and shot them."

Nolan has also discussed the fact that, while HBO's other fantasy show Game of Thrones had a series of lengthy novels to draw material from, Westworld was based on a single film, the 1973 classic directed by Michael Crichton. "We would joke that don't have George [RR Martin], we don't have the novels," he said. "We have a fantastic original film, but that's a little under two hours of storytelling. So our joke was we have to write the 'novels' first, and then adapt them and then go shoot them."

A new trailer was released at the end of August--check it out here.

Westworld also stars Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Ed Harris, and Jeffrey Wright. It premieres on October 2, 2016.