Why Westworld Season 2 may be Released so Late

Westworld was recently renewed by HBO for a second season on the subscription cable network. When the renewal announcement was made, we learned one hot fact about the upcoming season of the drama: it probably won't premiere until 2018, marking more than a year between Season 1 and Season 2. Recently, actor Luke Hemsworth explained exactly why we may have to wait a long time for new episodes of Westworld to hit the schedule. Here's what the actor had to say:

They are trying to get it right. They don't want to go in doing what they were doing last time where they were under the cosh the whole time. They want to go in with a clear plan -- A to Z and everything in between -- at least have drafts in place.

It can take a long time for a new season of a show to come together. Because of this, we see a lot of the shows with big budget productions getting renewed for more than one season at a time. We've seen that happen with shows like The Big Bang Theory or even HBO's Game of Thrones, enabling those shows to produce new episodes a bit more continuously. However, Westworld's first season was a little different. HBO didn't know whether or not the science fiction drama would be a hit with viewers, and a second season wasn't ordered until the numbers really started shaping out in a positive way.

In the interview with The Independent, Luke Hemsworth revealed that production hasn't yet even started on Season 2 of Westworld, which is to be expected, considering the potential 2018 return date. When the renewal announcement was initially made, there was some hope that the HBO show could make the schedule in late 2017, but it's looking less and less likely as the weeks move on.

During its first season, Westworld saw viewership that was pretty impressive for a new subscription cable show. The show was averaging more than 11 million viewers an episode over multiple days and multiple platforms during its first season run. If the numbers hold up during Season 2, perhaps the next time around, HBO will be able to shoot out renewal orders at a higher rate.

If the show continues to do well, hopefully we'll be able to see it get on a more regular time slot in HBO's schedule. That's one of the things that Starz's big production Outlander has struggled with. During that show's first year, it released on a split seasons schedule. During Season 2, the show premiered way later than usual and now we really don't have a good grasp on when Season 3 will hit the schedule. Hopefully, Westworld will find a way to avoid the same issues, scheduling-wise.

We'll let you know as soon as Westworld gets an official return date.