Anthony Hopkins and Evan Rachel Wood are saddling up for “Westworld.”
The Oscar-winning “Silence of the Lambs” actor has signed on to star in HBO's TV adaptation of the 1973 sci-fi film, effectively taking on his first (prospective) series regular role, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Joining him is “Charlie Countryman” star Evan Rachel Wood, who previously collaborated with the network on both “True Blood” and the 2011 miniseries “Mildred Pierce.”
Described as a “dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin,” the J.J. Abrams-produced series was “inspired by” the original film, which centered on a futuristic theme park that gave wealthy adults the opportunity to live out their Wild West fantasies (or any fantasies, really) with the help of artificially-intelligent robots.
Hopkins will star in the pilot as Dr. Robert Ford, the “brilliant, taciturn and complicated creative director, chief programmer and chairman of the board” who has “unorthodox” methods for achieving his creative vision. Wood, meanwhile, will play Dolores Abernathy, the “quintessential farm girl of the frontier West” who comes to realize that her entire existence is a lie. The pilot episode was directed and executive-produced by Jonathan Nolan (“Person of Interest”), who also co-wrote the script with “Burn Notice” and “Pushing Daisies” scribe Lisa Joy.
Written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton and starring Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin, “Westworld” went on to critical and commercial success on release. A big-screen remake was in development at Warner Bros. for a number of years, with Arnold Schwarzenegger at one point attached to star and Tarsem Singh slated to direct.
Does “Westworld” sound like something you'd like to watch? Let us know by voting in the poll further down the page.