HBO has slated drama “Westworld” for a fall premiere, following delays that temporarily halted production on the series earlier this year. The network has also set comedies “Divorce,” “Insecure,” and “High Maintenance” to debut in the fall.
As Variety first reported, HBO shut down production of “Westworld” in January after the project fell behind schedule — previously having been slated to wrap production two months prior. Filming resumed three months later.
No specific premiere date has yet been set for any of the shows.
Production delays on “Westworld” were among a series of recent hitches in HBO’s scripted development that preceded this week’s departure of Michael Lombardo from his role as programming president of the network. Miniseries “Lewis & Clark,” from producers Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, suspended production in August and was put into redevelopment. HBO suspended drama series “Utopia” from David Fincher that same month, and later scrapped plans for comedy “Brothers in Atlanta” from “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels, after the laffer was previously given a series order.
Related Stories
This week, HBO tapped development executive Casey Bloys to succeed Lombardo as programming president.
Popular on Variety
Based on the film by Michael Crichton, “Westworld” stars Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Thandie Newton and Jeffrey Wright in a dark drama about the dawn of artificial intelligence. The series hails from Bad Robot Productions, Jerry Weintraub Productions and Kilter Films in association with Warner Bros. Television. Jonathan Nolan serves as executive producer, writer and director on the project, with Lisa Joy writing and executive producing. J.J. Abrams, Jerry Weintraub and Bryan Burk also executive produce.
“Sex and the City” star Sarah Jessica Parker returns to the premium cabler to exec produce and star in “Divorce,” a half-hour comedy series centering around Frances, a woman who suddenly begins to reassess her life and her marriage, and finds that making a clean break and a fresh start is harder than she thought. The show also stars Thomas Haden Church, Molly Shannon, Talia Balsam, Tracy Letts, Sterling Jerins and Charlie Kilgore. The pilot episode was written by Sharon Horgan and directed by Jesse Peretz. The 10-episode series was created by Horgan and executive produced by Paul Simms, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sharon Horgan, Alison Benson and Aaron Kaplan.
Half-hour comedy series “Insecure,” starring Issa Rae, Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis and Lisa Joyce, looks at the friendship of two black women and their uncomfortable experiences and racy tribulations. Created and executive produced by Rae, the eight-episode show is also executive produced by Prentice Penny, Melina Matsoukas, Michael Rotenberg, Dave Becky and Jonathan Berry. Larry Wilmore serves as a consultant.
Six-episode comedy series “High Maintenance” follows a Brooklyn pot dealer (Ben Sinclair) who delivers to clients with neuroses as diverse as the city. The half-hour laffer was created and written by the married duo of Katja Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair, and executive produced by Blichfeld, Sinclair and Russell Gregory.