Westworld season 2 release date: Showrunners explain why show won't be back until 2018

'We wanted to spend some more time writing, then switch gears into production, then cut'

The first season of Westworld came to a stunning conclusion Sunday night, answering numerous questions while creating many more. (Was that really [spoiler] who died? Are certain robots now fully conscious?)

Unfortunately, while the speculation will continue, the show itself won’t be returning until 2018 at the soonest, as confirmed by showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.

In an interview with Variety, the pair cleared up exactly why the wait will be two years despite other shows primarily being released annually.

“It’s an ambitious project, and HBO has encouraged us to take the time and resources that we need to work on each stage of that,” Nolan told the publication.

“I love television. One of the fun things about television is that sometimes you find yourself in this place where you have to wear all these hats at once. You have to write, shoot, and cut simultaneously.

“We wanted to in the second season spend some more time writing, then switch gears into production, then cut. So we’re not going to follow the annual year-on-year tradition of television. Television’s changing. And the ambition of the project is such that we’re going to take our time to get the second season right.”

Nolan said the conversation surrounding an extended period between seasons started with HBO while filming episode two after realising the complexity of the show.

He added: “We both work in the movie business as well, and in the movie business the best that you can possibly hope for with a film franchise is to turn around another instalment in two or three years. So really on that schedule, we’re doing great.”

Work on season two has already begun, with Joy saying they have “started working on scripts and outlines.” She continued: “It’s looking good. It’s looking very ambitious. There’s some surprises and bits of it that you won’t see coming. I’m having fun.”

With regards the name of the next park briefly seen in episode 10, Nolan said viewers would have to “stay tuned” to find out its name. Read our spoilerific review of the episode here.