HBO’s sci-fi epic “Westworld” opened Sunday, and the series already has some good news on the ratings frontier.
The premiere drew 3.3 million on TV and on the HBO Go/HBO Now streaming platforms, according to data obtained by TheWrap.
That makes “Westworld” HBO’s most-watched drama premiere since the critically acclaimed Season 1 roll-out of “True Detective,” which also drew a combined viewership of 3.3 million.
It also more than doubled the turnout for “Vinyl,” the music drama from director Martin Scorsese, which garnered an anemic 1.4 million total viewers for its premiere. That show drew underwhelming reviews and wound up getting canceled earlier this year, with HBO executives reversing previously announced plans for a season 2 revamp.
HBO is seeking a long-term drama replacement for “Game of Thrones,” which will premiere its seventh and next-to-last season next year.
This past summer, the “GoT” season 6 finale drew nearly 9 million total viewers on the night of the original airing alone. However, it took years for the fantasy epic to build to that level; its first season, “GoT” averaged just 2.5 million total viewers, according to Nielsen.
“Westworld” is based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 movie about a theme park populated by robots that end up killing human beings. It stars Evan Rachel Wood and Anthony Hopkins.