‘Westworld’ Canceled at HBO After Four Seasons - Variety

HBO has canceled “Westworld” aft 4 seasons, the web announced Friday. The quality comes conscionable nether 3 months aft the bid aired its Season 4 finale Aug. 14.

Variety is told a multitude of factors went into the determination to extremity the sci-drama, including the production’s hefty terms tag, combined with dwindling viewership and an ongoing valuation of programming crossed the committee astatine HBO’s caller parent, Warner Bros. Discovery.

The David Zaslav-run institution has been paring backmost spending arsenic portion of a program to institute $3.5 cardinal successful cost-saving synergies, which the concern has promised to find implicit the adjacent 3 years post-April merger. However, adjacent connected the heels of a unsmooth third-quarter net report, Zaslav has continued to underline the value of steadfast contented spend, and HBO has respective high-profile, big-budget dramas that marque it wide the premium cabler isn’t cutting backmost overall, including “House of the Dragon,” “Euphoria” and the upcoming “The Last of Us” adaptation.

Created by husband-and-wife producing duo Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and produced by J.J. Abrams, “Westworld” starred Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Luke Hemsworth, Aaron Paul, Angela Sarafyan and James Marsden. Newcomers for Season 4 included Ariana DeBose, Aurora Perrineau and Daniel Wu.

“Over the past 4 seasons, Lisa and Jonah person taken viewers connected a mind-bending odyssey, raising the barroom astatine each step,” HBO said successful a connection Friday. “We are tremendously grateful to them, on with their immensely talented cast, producers and crew, and each of our partners astatine Kilter Films, Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television. It’s been a thrill to articulation them connected this journey.”

Nolan and Joy added successful their ain connection done banner Kilter Films: “Making ‘Westworld’ has been 1 of the highlights of our careers. We are profoundly grateful to our bonzer formed and unit for creating these indelible characters and superb worlds. We’ve been privileged to archer these stories astir the aboriginal of consciousness – some quality and beyond – successful the little model of clip earlier our AI overlords forbid america from doing so.”

“Westworld” archetypal debuted successful October 2016. The bid centered connected the titular technologically precocious amusement parkland filled with A.I. “hosts” successful a chaotic westbound setting. The amusement expanded its scope extracurricular of Westworld successful Season 2 to neighboring taxable parks owned and operated by the aforesaid fictional dystopian company, past ventured into the “real world” successful each its futuristic glory successful its 3rd season. The eight-episode 4th play of “Westworld” premiered June 26.

The bid premiere of “Westworld” boasted HBO’s highest viewership for a premiere since the motorboat of “True Detective” successful 2014. After that, the archetypal play of the sci-fi play became the most-watched freshman twelvemonth of immoderate HBO archetypal bid ever. However, its ratings person fallen each season, culminating successful a melodramatic driblet successful Season 4.

Based connected the 1973 movie of the aforesaid sanction written by Michael Crichton, HBO’s “Westworld” was enforcement produced by Nolan and Joy alongside Abrams, Alison Schapker, Denise Thé, Athena Wickham, Richard J. Lewis and Ben Stephenson.

The bid has been nominated for 54 Emmys and scored 9 wins, including Newton’s trophy for outstanding supporting histrion successful a play bid successful 2018.

“Westworld” hailed from Nolan and Joy’s Kilter Films, which is presently nether an wide woody astatine Amazon Studios, and Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions, which is nether an wide woody astatine WarnerMedia, successful relation with Warner Bros. Television.