Westworld Resumes Filming After COVID Shutdown

Weeks after filming on the Emmy-winning HBO Series Westworld was forced to pause due to someone on the production team testing positive for COVID-19, filming has resumed. Deadline brings word of the restart in production noting that shooting on the series actually resumed "early last week," with production returning to Melody Ranch studio where previous seasons of the show were shot. The trade also reports on some minor plot details, revealing that the "first encounter between" Aaron Paul's Caleb and Tessa Thompson's Charlotte Hale, aka another Dolores clone who is building a host army to do all kinds of nefarious things with.

Star Thandiwe Newton previously confirmed that her character Maeve would have something to say to Tessa Thompson's character, telling the trade in an interview: "Oh, there's definitely something going on there. Definitely. I mean I say definitely but I'm just a fan, like try to imagine. But yeah, I mean, Hale, is fascinating to me now, as an extension of Dolores. I mean, it's really interesting, isn't it? It's like the apple falling far from the tree and all that. It is really interesting that Dolores has spawned these children basically because they very quickly separate themselves from her."

Series co-creator and showrunner Jonathan Nolan also previously offered a tease of the next batch of episodes, saying that Ed Harris' The Man in Black will "kill everyone" next season.

"I'm a big believer in being guided by irony," Nolan said. "[William] winds up becoming this thing [a host] that he's controlled for so long. And on a visceral level, I just can't wait to watch Ed kill everyone."

Harris was also involved in a discussion at The Paley Center for Media, adding: "I have no idea what they have planned for me. I'm teamed with Tessa [Thompson], I know. Hopefully, we can do some rightful damage."

No premiere window for season four of the series has been announced yet, nor has an official episode count. For comparison, Westworld seasons one and two had ten episodes, but season three topped out at eight. There were also extended windows between each season of the series with season one airing from October to December of 2016, season two from April to June of 2018, and season three form March to May of 2020. With that kind of pattern, it wouldn't be surprising if Westworld season four didn't arrive until 2022 at the very earliest.

The first three seasons of Westworld are now available on HBO Max.