HBO took advantage of the hype for last night’s “Battle of the Bastards” on Game of Thrones to air an eerie new trailer for Westworld, the sci-fi Western series it teased back in August, from the husband-and-wife team of Lisa Joy (Burn Notice) and Jonathan Nolan (brother of Christopher Nolan and a writer on The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Interstellar). Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, and Thandie Newton all star in the series, about a theme park offering escapes to different historical locales populated by sexy, accommodating androids. Hopkins plays the John Hammond–like mastermind behind the endeavor, while Wood is Dolores Abernathy, an android who seems on the verge of self-awareness.
Production on the show was halted earlier this year, but things seem to be back on track with the release of the new trailer, which explores the commercialization of artificial intelligence in a setting we don’t typically tend to associate with it: the Wild West. The 10-episode series is a remake of the 1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton, which served as a precursor of sorts to Jurassic Park. And though the theme park in Westworld features A.I.s rather than dinosaurs, it’s clear from the new trailer that it will be just as ill-fated when its inhabitants begin to show signs of violent behavior “miles beyond a glitch.”
Westworld will premiere in October on HBO.
