In the early ‘70s, the first big screen adaptation of Michael Crichton’s work was The Andromeda Strain, followed by the sci-fi hit that he directed himself, Westworld. With so much potential for technology to go wrong, and with pretty much every single movie destined to be remade, a Westworld reboot seemed inevitable (Arnold Schwarzenegger was going to star at one point, not much of a stretch from The Terminator).
So now comes word, via The Hollywood Reporter, that in addition to the three billion movies and TV shows JJ Abrams has in development, he’s also doing a reboot of Westworld for HBO. This kind of thing is certainly up JJ’s alley, and we at TGD think he could actually do a pretty good job with it.
Westworld just came out on BluRay, and it’s gotten good notice from the geeks who were probably too young to catch it the first time around. Geek Monthly magazine gave it a 90% rating, calling it “a surprisingly assured directorial debut for Michael Crichton, boasting a knockout premise that begs for a remake, though some would argue that Jurassic Park was just that.” (We didn’t realize this, but if you substitute robots going haywire with mad dinosaurs on the rampage, Jurassic could indeed be another Westworld.)
Apparentl, Geek Monthly’s wish of a remake is coming true, and we’re definitely curious to see what a modern day trip to Westworld could be like. We also have to mention that Westworld will not be a movie for cable, but a series. No word yet on when the show will be ready to air, but we expert word soon, so stay tuned…
