Westworld may have been cut short, but its actors are still receiving a payout from the show. According to a new report, the main cast of HBO's former sci-fi show is still getting paid for the unproduced season 5.
Westworld was previously touted as one of HBO's flagship shows. After diminishing viewership returns, however, Westworld was canceled by HBO after 4 seasons. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, who co-created the series, had hoped for a fifth and final season to wrap up the storyline they had been crafting for the last few years. While the fourth season finale did seem like a good place to end the show, it did leave the door open for one more season, which probably would have answered some of the lingering questions fans still had about the series.
According to Deadline, the core cast of Westworld had what's known as "pay-or-play" deals over at HBO. This meant that the cast was going to be paid for the fifth season whether or not they would have filmed it. This stipulation reportedly came after renegotiating their contracts last year, before season 4 even aired. The core cast members who had negotiated for this clause reportedly include Aaron Paul, Thandiwe Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Ed Harris, and Evan Rachel Wood.
Deadline further reports that the salaries the cast are owed is somewhere in the $10M-$15M range. Despite being considered a great science fantasy show, the series was a costly one. The budget for season 4 was apparently $100 million, a figure which Deadline says would've been reduced had season 5 gone through, but which still would have cost about $80 million overall.
The move comes after new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav stated that "the grand experiment of creating something at any cost is over." Unfortunately, HBO had been airing Westworld to diminishing returns for the last few years. While the series was considered revolutionary in many ways, some speculate that its diminishing viewership was a key factor in its cancellation.
The critical reception of the show had also been waning (GameRant's own Westworld season 4 episode 8 review capped out at just one star). Some fans felt that the show had never quite lived up to its potential, with season one having been received the most positively. Others felt that the show had begun to become too convoluted to follow. One thing's for sure: season 5 would have been a very mind-bending experience. Evan Rachel Wood's Dolores was poised to start a simulation of her own in order to lead the spirit of humanity down a better path.
Westworld seasons 1-4 are streaming on HBO Max.
Source: Deadline