“Westworld” is about to be out at HBO Max, putting the future of HBO’s streaming service in more uncertain waters.
“Westworld,” the adaptation of the 1973 Michael Crichton film of the same name, was canceled last month after four seasons. The show was once a breakaway hit on the network and featured prominent film stars like Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris, though viewership declined after the second season.
Since HBO has yet to announce when the show will leave the service, fans are afraid they won’t have time to catch up on the final season.
“Westworld” is not the only high-profile show slated to be removed from the service. HBO Max originals “The Nevers,” “Minx,” “Gordita Chronicles” and “Love Life” also are fading out unless they find new homes.
Claudia Forestieri, creator of “Gordita Chronicles,” tweeted that this past weekend was the final for her show.
“Trying hard to not be bitter about this latest insult to injury, but real talk it feels like an EX destroying your photos in an attempt to ERASE you from memory,” the tweet reads.
The cuts to the streaming service appear to be part of an end-of-year financial review by Warner Bros. Discovery.
Since the merger of Warner Media and Discovery this year, CEO David Zaslav has guided the company through significant cuts to bolster “content efficiencies.”
The largest example of such cuts is “Batgirl,” a film shelved during production this year. Smaller shows and movies like “Infinity Train” and “Moonshot” were removed from the streaming service around the same time.
Mr. Zaslav has expressed interest in entering the FAST channel business. FAST channels are streaming services that are free and are open to advertising, sometimes with multiple subscription plans.
“We looked at what people are watching on Pluto and Tubi: They’re loving ’Rawhide’ and ’Bonanza.’ They’re not watching old series like ‘Dynasty’ on Max. There is a platform where people have an expectation and what they want to watch, and we’ve been able to get a real vision into what people are consuming, and ultimately that gives us a roadmap.” Mr. Zaslav said on a fiscal call in November.
Warner Bros. Discovery plans to launch a FAST service next year for some catalog and original shows, according to reports.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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