Westworld Creators are Working on New SF Series for HBO
HBO is preparing a new science fiction series based on Michael Crichton's novel Sphere. Its showrunner will be Denise Thé, while the producers include Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. All three of them are known for their work on Westworld, among others.
HBO does not intend to give up on the subject of science fiction. In the last few hours, a news was making rounds on the web that the company is planning another SF series. This time, the novel Sphere by Michael Crichton, originally published in 1987, will be taken to the workshop.
The original Sphere tells the story of a group of scientists who are given the task of investigating a giant spacecraft, probably several hundred years old, found thousands of feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Once aboard, the members of the expedition find the eponymous mysterious sphere. This begins a series of extraordinary events, during which, as we read in the official description of the series (via Entertainment Weekly), "they confronts the surreal, beautiful, and deadly mysteries of the universe, only to find the people closest to us may prove to be the most alien."
Denise Thé was appointed the showrunner of the upcoming production based on the novel. The executive producers of the title are Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. All three of them have already had the opportunity to cooperate on the set of Westworld. Interestingly, it was based on a 1973 film titled Westworld, which was directed and written by the director and screenwriter... Michael Crichton. Those responsible for the filming of Sphere are therefore no strangers to the work of the American writer and filmmaker.
Apart from Nolan and Joy, the producers of the new series based on Crichton's prose include Athena Wickham, Robert Downey Jr, Susan Downey and Amanda Burrell. So far we don't know who will appear in the title or when it will have its premiere.
It is worth mentioning that HBO's series will not be the first attempt to screen Michael Crichton's Sphere. The previous one was undertaken in 1998 by Barry Levinson (creator of the Oscar-winning Rain Man). His film featured Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Coyote and Liev Schreiber. Unfortunately, despite the star-packed cast, the title met with very cold reception from critics and audiences, and achieveddisappointing financial results.
