Violent delights may have violent ends, but Westworld’s enticements are in no danger of freezing all motor functions anytime soon. Which is happy news for us, pilgrim. Indeed, HBO made the unsurprising announcement Tuesday that Westworld season 3 has been greenlit, even as the second season has yet to air its third episode.
The news was fittingly revealed via the cryptic tweet below from the official handle of the series, before The Hollywood Reporter was allowed to shine a light on a few more details for season 3. At the moment, however, no one can confirm exactly when Westworld will be booking its third trip back to the park on HBO. This is, of course, a curiosity for fans, since season 2 took well over a year off from the series’ freshman effort, debuting last month on 22nd April after season 1 first bowed in October 2016. Some are even already speculating that the long delay, which allowed showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy to perfect their ever intricate plots for the sophomore effort, is why season 2 has thus far not seen that large an increase in viewership (about 3 million viewers tuned in for the season 2 premiere versus the 3.3 million who tuned in for 2016’s series premiere).
“It’s been an extraordinary pleasure to work with the exceptionally talented Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, as well as their gifted cast and crew,” HBO programming president Casey Bloys said in the official statement. “From the inspired storytelling to the incredible visuals, we are so excited to see where the next chapter will take us.”
So while it is again unclear when Westworld season 3 will jump back into the saddle, we imagine that it might have a faster turnaround than season 2, given that Nolan and Joy have had a longer period to plan beyond the current season. In any event, if the series can maintain the quality of last Sunday’s latest brain-teasing episode, we’re all in, be it black hat or white hat.
More as we have it.