Is the new Westworld HBO series a continuation of the story from the 1973 movie?
In the pilot episode of HBO's Westworld series there is mention that there hasn't been an "incident" with the robots in 30 years. The Man in Black character played by Ed Harris also mentions several times that he has been coming to the park for over 30 years.
The original movie was filmed in 1973 which I realize is actually 43 years ago and not 30, but it got me wondering if the "incident" that they are referring to are the events of the original film and the series is a continuation of that universe set 30 years later?
Best Answer
Entertainment Weekly asked the showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy about this:
When we’re told in the premiere that the park “hasn’t had a critical failure in 30 years.” Are we supposed to take the events in the 1973 movie as canon — that everything in the Westworld film happened in this universe – or was that reference not meant to literally be to the film’s events?
It’s playful but not meant to be literal. We wanted to connect to the ideas in the original film, but also take a look at this place as a cultural institution that is not new – because these ideas aren’t new. They stretch back to when Crichton was playing with them.
We wanted to consider the park in that capacity, as a cultural institution in the manner of a Disney World. We feel like there’s a long story here. Like there’s something so pointed and sad for us about the idea that Dolores, this sort of evergreen frontier girl next door. She’s been that plucky heroine for 30 years.
Jonathan Nolan has also shared this tidbit about producer J.J. Abrams:
It starts with J.J. Abrams who I’ve been collaborating with going on six years.
J.J. sat down with Michael Crichton two decades ago. Crichton wanted to talk to him about remaking the original film. J,J, couldn’t crack it at that point. Neither could the rest of the town. How do you remake the movie? Yul Brenner’s performance in particular is so iconic.
Fast forward two decades later, it occurs to J.J. it’s not a movie, it’s a series. A key aspect is you take the narrative and invert it, make it about the hosts.
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Answer 2
It is. The scene in the pilot in the basement with the decommissioned or 'parked' bots has in it a rusted globe with the letters "DELOS" which was the name of the company in the original Westworld. I couldn't get a good framegrab (at work) but the moment is around the 1:04:30 mark of the pilot episode.
Sources: http://HBO.com and the Decrypted:Westworld podcast
Answer 3
Not necessarily.
The main hero is seen visiting the park since his young age, and falling in love with Dolores at first sight. That was in the very beginning, and we understand that he is married with the daughter of the park owner.
On the other hand, any old globe with DELOS word on it could also be just from an older movie.
In other words, Westworld series as we know it now could be a real world (a real park) maybe started out from the idea of the Delos movie (aka the old Westworld would be just a movie and the nowadays one would be "the real one".)
It's like you go to the theater, see a drama there, take the idea and remake in reality what was in this drama.
This is the explanation for the fact that the two stories have nothing in common. And nowhere is mentioned the accident which caused the end of the first Westworld realm.
Therefore, the father-in-law of the Man-in-Black just copied the old idea from the 1973 movie into a new "reality" meant to make him rich and immortal.
Nice trick, indeed ! :)
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