HBO has canceled Westworld, the sci-fi drama centered around a robotic theme park.
The Hollywood Reporter calls it an “unexpected fate” for the series given it has been critically acclaimed for the network. Though the show’s creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have been ambiguous on whether Westworld would even return following the fourth season finale.
Nolan previously said that he and Joy are “in conversations with the network,” and would “very much hope” to make the fifth — and supposedly final — season of the series.
Alas, the cancellation means that the fourth season finale will serve as the end of the series, leaving the fate of the oncoming human extinction up in the air.
Westworld premiered in 2016 and focused on a Wild West-themed amusement park inhabited by robots that parkgoers could interact and roleplay with. Later seasons saw the robots gain sentience and free themselves from the park and into the human world, building up to a conflict between the two sides.
The series starred Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Jeffrey Wright, and Ed Harris with Tessa Thompson and Aaron Paul joining the cast in later seasons.
While the first two seasons generated millions of views, audience viewership declined in season three and season four according to Nielsen.
While IGN called season 4 a return to form the series in our review, it doesn’t look like it was enough for HBO to commit to another season. Especially with new shows like The Last of Us on the horizon.
Jonathn Nolan and Lisa Joy meanwhile are busy with the live-action Fallout series for Prime Video which revealed its first look recently as part of the 25th anniversary for Fallout.
Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.
