Westworld to return in 2020, Lena Waithe joins the cast

We finally have official confirmation of a premiere date for Westworld season 3! Well, we have a premiere year. Speaking to Deadline, WarnerMedia Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt and HBO president of programming Casey Bloys revealed that the show won’t return to HBO until 2020.

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The last season of Westworld came out in 2018 and the first in 2016, so it looks like we can expect a new season every two years, assuming creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy don’t get distracted by their new deal with Amazon. The wait is probably due to the show’s elaborate production, an ambition possible because complicated series like Game of Thrones paved the way. We still don’t know a ton about the third season, although given what happened in the season 2 finale, it should take place outside the titular theme park, now that Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and other robotic hosts have broken free of their loops and blended into the “real” world.

The A.V. Club reports that The Chi and Boomerang writer/creator Lena Waithe has joined the cast for season 3. You may recognize her from Ready Player One or the Netflix series Dear White People. Unfortunately, as it is with newcomer Aaron Paul (Jesse from Breaking Bad), we don’t know anything about Waithe’s role.

As for Thrones, HBO’s flagship show ends on May 19, so it’s important for HBO to find shows to fill the void. With series like Euphoria, Watchmen, The Nevers, and His Dark Materials in the pipeline, it’s certainly casting a wide net. “We have more than we’ve ever had in the works,” Bloys said. “I will personally be sad to see Game of Thrones go. As a fan, I love it, but as usual, HBO will survive and we will go on.”

Here’s what the current release schedule looks like for HBO:

Drama Series:

• Euphoria (June 16)
• Succession (2019)
• Watchmen (2019)
• His Dark Materials (2019)
• The Deuce (final season in 2019)
• The New Pope (2020)
• Westworld (2020)
• My Brilliant Friend (2020)

Limited Series:

• Big Little Lies (June 9)
• Years and Years (2019)
• Summer of 2014 (2019)
• The Outsider (2020)
• I Know This Much Is True (2020)
• The Undoing (2020)

Comedy Series:

• Los Espookys (June)
• The Righteous Gemstones (2019)
• Ballers (2019)
• Divorce (2019)
• Room 104 (2019)
• A Black Lady Sketch Show (2019)
• Mrs. Fletcher (2019)
• Silicon Valley (2019)
• Curb Your Enthusiasm (2020)
• Insecure (2020)
• Run (2020)
• Barry (2020)
• High Maintenance (2020)

Miniseries:

• Catherine the Great (2019)
• The Plot Against America (2020)

Pilot Commitment:

• Untitled Jane Goldman’s Game of Thrones prequel

We should be able to work with that.

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h/t The A.V. Club