Westworld lights up HBO Canada

Buzzy HBO drama Westworld has become the best ever launch for HBO Canada and The Movie Network.

The sci-fi series bowed strongly on HBO in the US and also on Sky Atlantic in the UK. In both Canada and the UK the series opener beat Game of Thrones in terms of viewing numbers.

On HBO Canada and TMN, in a Sunday 9pm slot, the debut ep garnered 501,500 viewers, placing it ahead of the 500,400 recorded for True Detective. Game of Thrones, by comparison, delivered 290,100 viewers when it launched in 2011.

Episode three debuts this Sunday on the pay TV nets.

The drama is based on the 1973 Michael Crichton film. It is set in a world in which rich citizens pay to stay in a hedonistic theme park staffed by artificially-intelligent hosts, who indulge their fantasies.

Anthony Hopkins, Thandie Newton, Evan Rachel Wood, Ed Harris, Jeffrey Wright and James Marsden are among the ensemble cast.

Kilter Films, Bad Robot Productions, Jerry Weintraub Productions and Warner Bros. Television coproduce the show, with Warner holding international sales rights.