HBO’s Westworld promises to be a cerebral exploration of the nature of consciousness, and the latest piece of promotional art for the series hammers home the show’s dark, disturbing tone.
The art piece is clearly inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Vitruvian Man, and features an android that looks remarkably human — albeit sexless — over much of its body, with its robotic skeleton visible at its extremities. The image of the robot is set against a backdrop of the Westworld park’s logo with a Western vista beyond it.
Premiering in October, the series unfolds in and around a Western-themed theme park populated by artificially intelligent robots whose primary directive is to indulge the desires of human guests, no matter how noble or depraved. When the android inhabitants of the park begin to question the nature of their existence, the lines between the brutal realities of the theme park and the outside human world begin to blur.
Westworld is executive produced and co-written by Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight, Interstellar), who also directs the pilot. It’s co-written and executive produced by Lisa Joy Nolan (Burn Notice, Pushing Daisies). J.J. Abrams also serves as an executive producer through his Bad Robot Productions studio.
The show features an all-star cast that includes Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins and four-time Academy Award nominee Ed Harris, as well as Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Jimmi Simpson, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Ben Barnes, Simon Quarterman, Angela Sarafyan, Luke Hemsworth, and Clifton Collins, Jr.
Westworld is based on novelist Michael Crichton’s 1973 film of the same name, which he wrote and directed.
The series premieres at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 2, on HBO with the first one-hour episode of the show’s 10-episode season.
