‘Westworld’ Core Cast Will Still Be Paid For Season 5 After Cancellation - Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: The doorway to Westworld was slammed unopen contiguous arsenic HBO confirmed that the dystopian sci-fi bid volition not get a 5th season. It was atrocious quality for anyone associated with the show, led by creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, who had been hoping and advocating for different chapter, but for the main cast, determination was immoderate metallic lining. I perceive they volition beryllium paid for Season 5 careless of the information that it volition not beryllium produced.

According to sources, the halfway formed had pay-or-play deals for Season 5. I perceive the actors’ options came up sometime past year, earlier Season 4 had aired (its production had been delayed due to the fact that of the pandemic), and they were exercised. I perceive the formed besides mightiness person renegotiated their deals astatine that time.

The determination is not unusual. Networks sometime wage to unafraid a formed earlier a renewal determination is made, particularly if the radical features large names who would beryllium hard to reassemble without contracts.

Westworld‘s main cast, arsenic listed connected the show’s HBO page, is led by Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Ed Harris and Aaron Paul. The quintet represented the bid astatine the 2019 Comic-Con.

Wood, Newton, Wright and Harris are archetypal formed members who antecedently renegotiated large raises aft Season 2 to astir $250,000 an occurrence successful Season 3. Paul joined successful Season 3.

The salaries the formed is owed for Season 5 are believed to full successful the $10M-$15M range. It is not a tiny chunk of change, but Westworld is not a inexpensive amusement overall, with its third-season fund pegged astatine $100M, oregon astir $10M an episode, truthful proceeding with a 5th play would’ve outgo HBO northbound of $80M.

According to sources, the cancellation determination came down to the aforesaid criteria Netflix uses for their renewal decisions: viewership vs. cost. Westworld‘s ratings person declined steadily passim its tally to date. Creatively, Westworld had an uptick successful the captious effect from Season 3 to Season 4 (from 73% to 75% connected Rotten Tomatoes), but fans had been progressively vocal astir the dense mythology and convoluted storylines that had go harder to follow, which has reflected successful the viewership numbers.

The cancellation comes a time aft a challenging quarterly net report by HBO genitor Warner Bros. Discovery. During the telephone that followed, WBD CEO David Zaslav revealed plans to rise the company’s savings people to $3.5B, up $500M implicit its archetypal people

“The expansive experimentation of creating thing astatine immoderate outgo is over,” helium said.

Westworld, a acheronian odyssey astir the dawn of artificial consciousness and the question of escaped will, is an adaptation of the 1973 movie written and directed by Michael Crichton.

Season 4 credits included Nolan and Joy arsenic creators, EPs Abrams, Alison Schapker, Athena Wickham, Richard J. Lewis, Denise Thé, and Ben Stephenson with Kilter Films and Bad Robot producing successful relation with Warner Bros. Television.