--- title: HBO Creepily Announces 'Westworld' Series Starring Anthony Hopkins description: Jonah Nolan and J.J. Abrams court an all-star cast for the highly anticipated sci-fi western canonical: https://time.com/3590531/hbo-westworld-announcement-anthony-hopkins/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-17T23:10:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:29:47.385Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: HBO Creepily Announces 'Westworld' Series Starring Anthony Hopkins og:description: Jonah Nolan and J.J. Abrams court an all-star cast for the highly anticipated sci-fi western og:url: https://time.com/3590531/hbo-westworld-announcement-anthony-hopkins/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5023e40ed5c35438/6987692f5f570f116eb139ae/480403147.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: "Noah" Press Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: HBO Creepily Announces 'Westworld' Series Starring Anthony Hopkins twitter:description: Jonah Nolan and J.J. Abrams court an all-star cast for the highly anticipated sci-fi western twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5023e40ed5c35438/6987692f5f570f116eb139ae/480403147.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # HBO Creepily Announces _Westworld_ Series Starring Anthony Hopkins  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 17, 2014 11:10 PM UTC  Anthony Hopkins at the "Noah" Press Conference at the Four Seasons Hotel on March 24, 2014 in Beverly Hills. Anthony Hopkins at the "Noah" Press Conference at the Four Seasons Hotel on March 24, 2014 in Beverly Hills.Vera Anderson—WireImage  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 17, 2014 11:10 PM UTC HBO has officially green lit _Westworld_, a futuristic drama starring Anthony Hopkins, for 2015\. The premium cable network made the announcement Monday via a creepy Vine posted to its Twitter account: You are correct. @CaptainAutism [@JillPantozzi](https://twitter.com/JillPantozzi?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) [@vqnerdballs](https://twitter.com/vqnerdballs?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) [#Westworld](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Westworld?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) — HBO (@HBO) [November 17, 2014](https://twitter.com/HBO/status/534460351140876288?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) The show, based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 film of the same name, will center on an adult amusement park that is filled with lifelike robots. Stars are flocking to the project, [according to](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/how-hbos-westworld-became-tvs-728698) _The Hollywood Reporter,_ because of the juicy acting opportunity to play many different characters in a single season, as the plot involves robots that are killed off and return with completely different personalities. So far James Marsden (_X-Men_), Ed Harris (_A Beautiful Mind_), Evan Rachel Wood (_The Wrestler_), Thandie Newton (_The Pursuit of Happyness_) and Jeffrey Wright (_Casino Royale_) will join Anthony Hopkins in the show. Unlike HBO’s all-star _True Detective_, which tells a new story with new actors every season, actors on _Westworld_ will sign multi-season contracts. This will be Hopkins’ first series regular role ever. Penned by married writing duo, Jonathan Nolan (_Interstellar_) and Lisa Joy (_Burn Notice_), _Westworld_ will be produced by Nolan and J.J. Abrams. The series comes as HBO wraps three of its dramas this year: _Boardwalk Empire_, _True Blood_ and _The Newsroom_. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3590531/hbo-westworld-announcement-anthony-hopkins/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3590531/hbo-westworld-announcement-anthony-hopkins/"},"headline":"HBO Creepily Announces Westworld Series Starring Anthony Hopkins","datePublished":"2014-11-17T23:10:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:29:47.385Z","description":"Jonah Nolan and J.J. 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