HBO has halted production on the ambitious series Westworld, which has been taking far too long to make. However, the premium cable network still hopes to air it before the end of the year.
The news was first reported by Variety. Its sources say that production was supposed to finish up two months ago, but four episodes still have to be made. Production is now halted, but should resume in March. Executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy still have to work on the scripts.
“As we head into the final phase of production on Westworld, we’ve made the decision to take a brief hiatus in order to get ahead of the writing,” HBO told Variety.
The Bad Robot series is inspired by the 1973 Michael Crichton film, which starred Yul Brynner. Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden and Thandie Newton lead the all-star cast. The show was picked up in November 2014 and a teaser was finally released in August 2015.
The show faced a significant controversy last fall, when word leaked out that extras were asked to sign a consent form that told them they would have to perform graphic sex acts and would have to be nude on camera. HBO insisted that the Central Casting document was not approved by the network.