HBO cancels sci-fi drama Westworld after four seasons
The decision comes as a surprise for fans since the Westworld creators had earlier revealed that they had the story fleshed out for a fifth and final season
HBO’s hit sci-fi drama series Westworld has been cancelled after four seasons. The series had just released the last episode of season 4 in August 2022. According to reports, the decision to axe the series was made at HBO due to a number of factors including the heavy production cost, declining viewership for the series, and the recent changes at the top management level at HBO’s parent company Warner Bros.
In a recent interview, Westworld’s co-creator Jonathan Nolan revealed that he was hoping HBO would renew the series for a fifth and final season so they could wrap up the series. Co-creator Lisa Joy had also mentioned that they were always working towards a specific ending since the beginning and that she hoped they would get to tell the story they had initially planned.
The series had one of the strongest first seasons, with high critical reception and viewership numbers. However, the ratings for the series went through a sharp decline after the second season and the fans too started complaining about the story getting more intentionally over-complicated.
Westworld creator Jonathan Nolan is currently working on a sci-fi series for Amazon Prime Video titled The Peripheral, starring Chloë Grace Moretz in the lead, which premiered its first episode on 21 October 2022.