The way they built their world, what with its endless narrative twists and tangled threads, you’d think it wouldn’t take much to bring Westworld crashing down. However, despite diminishing viewership, HBO expressed confidence in the sci-fi drama by announcing a renewal for Season 4.
Even with the decline in numbers (down to only 901,000 linear viewers from Season 2’s 2.05 million), the pickup was expected and makes sense. HBO doesn’t have a ton of original drama on its lineup right now, and with the impending launch of HBO Max, the network is undoubtedly looking to hold onto some marquee titles.
Regardless, renewing the show was always in the contractual cards thanks to showrunners and co-creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan’s deal with Amazon. The nine-figure overall deal, signed last year, includes stipulations that they’d be allowed to continue shepherding Westworld — and be paid upfront for their work. What’s more, sources say that deal actually outlines three additional seasons, meaning the plan is for the series to run through Season 6 (via The Hollywood Reporter).
So while Joy and Nolan will continue trying to unravel the mystery they’ve created while exploring the definition of humanity on Westworld, they’re already hard at work on their Amazon projects. That includes an adaptation of the 2014 science fiction novel The Peripheral by William Gibson. Writer Scott B. Smith is showrunning that one, while Joy and Nolan serve as executive producers.
The Season 3 finale of Westworld airs on May 3rd.
