Does HBO's WESTWORLD have the most exciting mix of talent on TV?

When I heard HBO were making a TV drama based on 1973's sci-fi classic WESTWORLD, adapted from the Michael Crichton novel about a futuristic Wild West theme park full of killer robots, I wasn't terribly enthusiastic. But that's all changed now they've started casting this baby, because it's an awesome mix of talent...

• J.J Abrams and Bryan Burk are producing. They've made dozens of big film and TV shows together over the past decade; including Lost, Fringe, Super 8, Star Trek, Cloverfield, Person of Interest, and the upcoming Star Wars sequels.
• Jerry Weintraub is also a producer. He's the former CEO of United Artists and has worked on movies such as The Karate Kid, Ocean's Eleven, and the upcoming Tarzan.
• Jonathan Nolan has co-written the pilot with his wife Lisa Joy (Pushing Daisies, Burn Notice) and will direct the pilot. He's the brother of Christopher Nolan, and has been involved in many of his sibling's films (co-writing The Prestige, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and the upcoming Interstellar). He also created CBS drama Person of Interest.
• Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs, Remains of the Day) is playing Dr Robert Ford, the creative director of the Westworld park.
• Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler, True Blood) is playing a Western robot who realises the truth of her existence.
• Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale, Boardwalk Empire) is playing Bernard Lowe, the man who created the Westworld robots as part of its Programming Divison.
• Rodrigo Santoro (300, Lost) is playing a wanted man called Harlan Bell.
• James Marsen (X-Men, Superman Returns) is playing a new gunslinger called Teddy Flood, who is after a local beauty.
• Shannon Woodward (Raising Hope, The Riches) is playing a gifted programmer in Westwold's Programming Division.
• Ed Harris (The Abyss, The Truman Show) is playing the villainous 'Man in Black', which is the most famous character from the 1973 film—previously played by Yul Brynner (see main photo)
• Thandie Newton (Crash, MI:II) is playing Maeve Millay, a beautiful woman with a knack for survival.
• Miranda Otto (Lord of the Rings) has just been cast as Virginia Pittman, the head of Westworld's Quality Assurance department.

The new Westworld will debut next year, described as a "dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial intelligence and the future of sin". It will probably do better than a previous attempt to turn the idea into a TV series, 1980s Beyond Westworld...

... which was was axed after three of the five produced episodes aired.