HBO has temporarily shut down production on the ambitious sci-fi drama Westworld, citing the need of a “brief hiatus in order to get ahead of the writing.” Outside of quick glimpses at the visual style of the show thanks to a thirty-second teaser, not much has been revealed about the series, which is a remake of the 1973 Michael Crichton movie of the same name.
When it does premiere, the show will follow the behind-the-scenes drama of a futuristic theme park where robots and humans exist at once to entertain the masses of the western-themed vacation destination. HBO insisted that the show was on track a few weeks ago, but reports have now come out regarding the writers’ need to catch up on the first season’s final four scripts.
With the brief hiatus, showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy will be allowed room to breathe and create a show worthy of the network’s lineage of top-shelf programming. Sources speaking with Variety say that HBO is confident the series will make its targeted premiere date, which as of yet has only been given a generic window of sometime in 2016.
The production on Westworld is now set to resume in March, and we’ll keep you posted when we hear more.