Photo credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
Photo credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

The last we heard on HBO’s rebooted ‘Westworld‘ is that production had ground to a halt but all of that has changed with the addition of Lili Simmons (‘Bone Tomahawk’,’Banshee’) to the cast. While this new take on Michael Crichton’s classic film which is being described as “a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin” had been put on hold while four final scripts were polished up, now things are ramping back up.

Simmons will be joining the cast as Abigail who is a woman that “works in the park and uses her good looks and charm to lure Westworld guests into the saloon.” I suspect that anyone trying to lure someone to a location in the show is probably going to be one of the artificial intelligences that end up rioting against humanity. The casting choice seems perfect as she knows her way around a Western setting from her recent work on ‘Bone Tomahawk’ and has also been a series regular on ‘Banshee’ so she is a good fit for an ongoing show.

It looks as if HBO has been eyeing a way to bring her back to the network after her work on ‘True Detective.’ Now they’ve been able to cast her in what looks to be the latest hit that the network will air. I’m not thinking it will get ‘Game of Thrones’ numbers but I do suspect we’ll see a lot of eyes tuning to this one. Getting the audience to continue tuning in for an artificial intelligence based wild west environment could be tricky but with one hell of a cast and crew on hand and HBO being behind it, I’m not too worried about it.

Are you happy to hear that ‘Westworld’ is back in production? Do you think that Simmons will make a good addition to the cast? Share your thoughts below!

‘Westworld’ is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin. The one-hour drama features actors Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Angela Sarafyan, and Simon Quarterman.

Jonathan Nolan serves as executive producer/writer/director; Lisa Joy as executive producer/writer; executive producers are J.J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub, and Bryan Burk; co-executive producer Kathy Lingg; producer Athena Wickham; and co-producer Susie Ekins. The series is produced by Bad Robot Productions, Jerry Weintraub Productions and Kilter Films in association with Warner Bros. Television

‘Westworld’ is inspired by the film of the same name, written and directed by Michael Crichton.

Sources: Deadline , JoBlo

Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!