Caffeinated Clint
Long before the hot storks of Evan Rachel Wood found themselves sopped in corset textile, Hollywood tinkered with the idea of bringing Michael Crichton’s 1973 actioner “Westworld” back to the big screen – “Expendables”-style.
Jerry Weintraub, the late, great franchise staple of “Police Academy” and “Ocean’s Eleven” fame, had been championing a remake of the sooty robot-killer flick for quite some time.
In the early noughties, it was decided “Westworld” would be an Arnold Schwarzenegger-vehicle. He wanted work, you see. Warner needed some marquee-name entertainment – particularly now that Mel Gibson had walked away from the new “Mad Max” they were developing at the time.
“I am very excited to be working on ‘Westworld,’ ” Schwarzenegger, who was set to play the Yul Brynner role, said at the time. “I loved the original film when I saw it in 1973 and have wanted to remake it for several years. After following the project for some time, I am really thrilled it has finally come together at Warner Bros.”
With the Oak’s signature on a contract by 2002, the studio fast-tracked the project. In addition to feeling out Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis – both of whom would later co-star with Schwarzenegger in those dire “Expendables” flicks – as possible co-stars (likely offered the human roles to Schwarzenegger’s cyborg), the brass went director hunting. A couple of big name filmmakers – including Quentin Tarantino – were reportedly flirting with the project, but ultimately stopped shy of dropping their pants for the epic redo. Guess nobody had enough confidence in the project outside of the theater merchandise kings.
A couple of years later, Schwarzenegger exited and “Cell” director Tarsem Singh was hired to retool the movie.
So much for that.
Just as quickly as it came to be, the project went away – the brand sitting on the shelf again for umpteen years. Right up until Chris Nolan’s little brother proposed producer Weintraub his idea to turn “Westworld” into a unique, complex cable series.
Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy wrote an intricate pilot – one which had so many moving parts that it kept missing it’s broadcast premiere dates – that, one season down, has been lauded as one of the best TV shows to hit the box in years. With a superlative cast including, the aforesaid Wood, Anthony Hopkins, Jimmi Simpson, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, James Marsden, Ed Harris and Luke Hemsworth, and more twists than the road up to Mr. Buffalo, “Westworld” is, I’m guessing, ten times the buzz that the Schwarzenegger shoot ‘em up would’ve been.
Another reminder that things happen as they should.
