HBO has announced that Westworld has been cancelled after four seasons. Citing production costs and a decline in viewership, the decision was made to bring the show to an end only months after Westworld season 4 ended. The news comes as a shock to showrunners and many fans who hoped that the show would have one more season to bring the story to a proper end.
Husband-and-wife producing partners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy created the series based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 novel, which spawned two movies before heading to the small screen. With J.J. Abrams onboard as a producer and a stellar cast that includes Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson and Luke Hemsworth, you’d think a show like Westworld could avoid cancellation, but Warner Media Discovery has made a slew of surprise decisions since its merger, including the high profile cancellation of the Batgirl movie and a last minute nixing of TBS' Chad.
Nolan hinted at season 5 plans while attending New York Comic Con in October to promote his new drama The Peripheral. "We always planned for a fifth and final season. We are still in conversations with the network. We very much hope to make them," he said.
While breaking down the end of the season with Deadline, Joy said that there are still things that needed to be wrapped up. "[Nolan] and I have always had an ending in mind that we hope to reach," she said. "We have not quite reached it yet."
Even more puzzling is an interview that Ed Harris given to The Hollywood Reporter in July, where he openly confirmed that filming on season 5 was already scheduled for April or May 2023. "We have one more season, which will start filming next April and May," he said. "I have no idea where that’s going to end up."
Clearly, there were plans in place for Westworld to end in season 5 and at least one cast member had filming on his schedule. So it's no wonder the news was quite a shock to the creatives behind the series.
Fans across social media had lots to say about the decision. Their responses were mixed, as many fans believed that season 4 was the perfect way to end the show while others hoped for a chance of getting the final season to wrap everything up the way the showrunners planned. Here’s what they were saying:
Disappointing - calling on @netflix @PrimeVideo @hulu @Showtime pick up to wrap up the writers’ planned fifth season #westworld https://t.co/qdgUJgNMyMNovember 4, 2022
The cancellation of Westworld is a real tragedy. Good sci-fi is hard to find.November 4, 2022
As a big Westworld fan, it sucks to hear that it was canceled. But if you've seen all 4 seasons, you've seen the writing on the wall it was coming. They had no idea where the show was going from here.November 4, 2022
Westworld did fall off a bit. Should of ended w/ S3. But those first 2 seasons 🔥🔥🔥🔥November 4, 2022
Westworld was peak sci-fi that questioned the concepts of humanity, consciousness and reality. It made that with a great narrative, amazing cinematography, extraordinary attention to world-building and some of the best actings on TV ever. Big loss for #Westworld fans like me😔 https://t.co/e82Q2mSm0ONovember 4, 2022
"These violent delights have violent ends..." #WestworldNovember 4, 2022
Westworld cancelled? Did that happen right around the end of the 2nd season?November 4, 2022
You can watch all four season of Westworld right now on HBO Max.
