After True Detective, toplined by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, the casting bar for HBO‘s new drama series is pretty high. Enter the pay cable network’s pilot Westworld, which has locked in Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins and Evan Rachel Wood for lead roles. The project, inspired by Michael Crichton’s 1973 sci-fi movie set at an amusement park, hails from from J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot, Person Of Interest creator Jonathan Nolan, writer Lisa Joy Nolan, producer Jerry Weintraub and Warner Bros TV. It landed at HBO a year ago with one of the biggest commitments ever for the premium network, a pilot production commitment, and now has been officially greenlighted to pilot with Hopkins and Wood on board. Described as a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin, the series will keep the setting of the movie, which starred Yul Brynner, Richard Benjamin and James Brolin and introduced new digital visual techniques. In his first TV series role, Hopkins will play Dr. Robert Ford, the brilliant, taciturn and complicated creative director, chief programmer and chairman of the board of Westworld who has an uncompromising creativehbologo3 vision for the park — and unorthodox methods of achieving it. Wood plays the provincial, beautiful and kind Dolores Abernathy, the quintessential farm girl of the frontier West — who is about to discover that her entire idyllic existence is an elaborately constructed lie. Also in talks for a lead role in the pilot is James Marsden. This marks Wood’s return to HBO where she had a recurring role on True Blood and co-starred in the miniseries Mildred Pierce. Husband-and-wife duo Jonah and Lisa Joy Nolan wrote the script and are executive producing Westworld with Abrams, Weintraub and Bryan Burk. Jonah also will direct.

hails from from J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot[/b]

Ed Harris Set as Key Villain in HBO's 'Westworld'
12:15 PM PDT 8/11/2014 by Lesley Goldberg


HBO's Westworld adaptation continues to add to its already impressive cast.

Four-time Oscar nominee Ed Harris has landed a pivotal role in the premium cable network's adaptation of the sci-fi hit, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Inspired by Michael Crichton's 1973 feature film, the drama is billed as a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin.

Harris (The Hours, Pollock, The Truman Show, Apollo 13) will star as The Man in Black, described as the distillation of pure villainy into one man.

He joins a cast that includes Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Rodrigo Santoro, Shannon Woodward, James Marsden, Kyle Bornheimer and more.

J.J. Abrams will executive produce alongside veteran producer Jerry Weintraub and Bad Robot's Bryan Burk. Person of Interest's Jonathan Nolan, who co-wrote the pilot, will executive produce and direct as well. Lisa Joy co-wrote the pilot and will exec produce. Kathy Lingg will co-executive produce and Athena Wickham is a producer on the Warner Bros. Television drama. David Coatsworth is set as a co-executive producer and line producer, with Susie Ekins set as a co-producer.

The casting brings Harris back into the HBO fold after his role as Sen. John McCain in HBO's Game Change and role in Empire Falls. Harris earned Emmy nominations for both roles and a Golden Globe win for the former. He next stars in feature Run All Night. He's repped by CAA and Ziffren Brittenham.