Until recently, however, nobody even knew what this land filled with lethal katana-swinging androids was even called.
Youd attempt to reach a global audience.
So the idea is you have a texture here thats totally different.
Carlos Serrao for EW
You had this wonderful call and response between these two genres with the gunslinger and the ronin.
They have identical tropes but are set within different cultures.
Frankly, this was just a great excuse to go and make a samurai movie with all the trimmings.
LISA JOY:For me, its also personal.
You saw new talents with the actors, new fighting styles, new types of wardrobe.
It was exhilarating to me.
It was wonderful to see that world come alive.
We felt free to have a composite with Shogun World and pick and choose.
This is basically the Edo period, but with artifacts from across 300 years.
The social media tease has suggested Shogun World is a level up and even more violent than Westworld.
It wasnt just about gore, its also about being immersive.
We wanted to feel like our story dropped into a totally different world.
Basically, we have a whole episode in Japanese.
JOY:Its not our world.
Its their world, and its thrilling to walk through.
They were kung fu films about the Monkey King based on these classic Chinese novels.
The English version is calledJourney to the West.
Its about the tale of the Monkey King going after these Buddhistscrolls.
NOLAN:I would be torn betweenThe Seven Samurai, which is the greatest film ever.
Theres quite a lot from those movies woven through Shogun World.
But as with the Western, there are pieces from all over the place.
JOY:We definitely have a lot of cool Japanese weaponry cluttering up our offices now.
Most of our season is spent in Westworld the eponymous Westworld.
But we do get a chance to glimpse some of the other worlds.
Westworldreturns to HBO on April 22.
