New ‘Westworld’ Update Basically Kills off Any Chances of Show’s Revival

The recent TV version of Westworld has been dead for years now. But it’s deader than dead now.

Westworld, based on the 1973 movie, became a bit of a phenomenon in the TV zeitgeist when it premiered on HBO back in 2016. However, questionable creative decisions in its subsequent seasons eventually ran off many viewers. HBO canceled the show in 2022, a somewhat suprising news for those only famiaral with the hype around Season 1.

Despite this axing, some fans out there hoped there could be a revival down the line. But the first blow to these hopes came when Warner Bros. Discovery removed the show from its in-house streamer, HBO Max. This iteration of the Westworld was clearly not held it in the same regard as other concluded HBO shows that HBO Max still licenses.

A New Setback Dooms Chances for a Revival of HBO’s Westworld

This new blow comes in the form of a production update on the franchise. Deadline reports that a new Westworld movie is in the works with an unspecified “major filmmaker” looking to get involved.

Deadline Editor-At-Large Mike Fleming Jr., wrote on Monday that writer David Koepp “is going straight back to (Michael) Crichton’s original film for the movie.” While exact continuity is unclear, we’re led to believe the picture will be either be a remake or legacy sequel to the original Crichton movie, based on the language in Fleming’s write-up.

That means no connection to lore that creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy established in the HBO version of Westworld. This also reads like 1976’s Futureworld and the 1980 CBS show Beyond Westworld are being discounted, too.

Fans of the later additions to the Westworld universe should start making peace with this new Koepp-backed version. HBO’s Westworld has never been more dead.