HBO’s prestige TV model has both made and lost the network a lot of money. Game of Thrones is one of the most expensive shows ever made, at $6 million per episode, and it’s also one of HBO’s most successful, garnering an enormous following and breaking season premiere and awards records right and left. In contrast, Vinyl, whose budget was around $100 million, didn’t do so well with viewers or critics and was cancelled after a single season. The network’s newest drama, Westworld, premieres tonight, and there is a lot riding on the show’s success.
Insiders tell The Hollywood Reporter that the single season of Westworld sat somewhere in the $100 million range, on par with Vinyl’s budget. That, coupled with a delayed premiere schedule and dealing with a new president or programming (Casey Bloys stepped in to replace Michael Lombardo in May), complicated things for the show, but there was no way anyone was giving up on it.
“The production value of this thing is preposterous,” Westworld’s executive producer J.J. Abrams told THR. “But it's HBO. That's what they do. There was no way that this idea, which [creators] Jonah [Nolan] and Lisa [Joy] from the beginning were doing as a AAA experience — that HBO would compromise. The expense is one thing, but the results are entirely on screen. The cast is extraordinary, and the writers and directors wanted to maximize that sense of a cinematic experience. It's not a cheap show to make, but it doesn't hurt the eyes to look at.“
Production was initially delayed from December to February so that the creators could catch up on writing the rest of the scripts. Much of the show had been shot by then, but there were still a few episodes to go, and according to Lisa Joy, “To be able to write them in advance and then go back to production and fully commit… it was an enormous opportunity and we're so grateful for it.”
Westworld is based on Michael Crichton’s book and 1973 movie of the same name, about a futuristic theme park where visitors can pretend to be in the Old West and interact with androids programmed to fulfill their every desire. But all is not well, as it seems there’s a glitch in the park causing the robots to deny their programming.
The good news is, the episodes that have been released to the press are doing very well with critics, including with our own Richard Lawson, who called it “beautifully acted and intricately written, frightening and probing and provocative.” Westworld premieres tonight at 9 pm ET on HBO.
