On Thursday it was officially announced by WarnerMedia that J.J. Abrams and his production company Bad Robot are developing three upcoming series for HBO Max.
They include an original series titled Duster, a thriller series set during the 1970s. Along another series connected to Stephen King’s The Shining and Doctor Sleep titled Outlook focusing on the Outlook Hotel. There is also one set in the DC Comics universe focusing on the characters from Justice League Dark, the unmade project that was originally being developed by Guillermo del Toro.
Bad Robot previously being behind series like Castle Rock and Westworld.
Here is the official press release from WarnerMedia.
HBO Max today announced it has given production commitments for three new high-octane one-hour dramas from J.J. Abrams and Katie McGrath’s Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television Group, marking the first new Bad Robot–produced television projects for HBO Max under the exclusive, wide-ranging content collaboration partnership formed by Bad Robot with HBO Max parent company WarnerMedia in fall 2019.
The first series “Duster,” is to be co-written by J.J. Abrams & LaToya Morgan. Set in the 1970’s Southwest, the life of a gutsy getaway driver for a growing crime syndicate goes from awful to wildly, stupidly, dangerously awful. Morgan is currently a writer on “The Walking Dead”. Previously, she was a co-executive producer and writer of AMC’s “Into the Badlands” and “TURN: Washington’s Spies,” and was a writer for NBC’s “Parenthood” and Showtime’s “Shameless.” Produced by Warner Bros. Television.
The second series, “Overlook,” is a horror-thriller series inspired by and featuring iconic characters from Stephen King’s masterpiece The Shining. “Overlook” explores the untold, terrifying stories of the most famous haunted hotel in American fiction. The project reunites Bad Robot, King and WBTV, who previously collaborated on the acclaimed psychological-horror series “Castle Rock” for Hulu.
The third will be a major series based on DC characters in the “Justice League Dark” Universe, details to be revealed soon.
“What an amazing start to our association with the wildly imaginative Bad Robot team under J.J. and Katie,” said Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer, HBO Max and President, TNT, TBS, & truTV. “What could be better than an original J.J. idea and then Warner Bros. letting them loose on iconic I.P. from Stephen King and the DC Universe and to provide more must-have programming on HBO Max.”
All of the Bad Robot series for HBO Max will be executive produced by J.J. Abrams and its Head of Television, Ben Stephenson. Rachel Rusch Rich, Bad Robot’s Executive Vice President of Television will serve as a co-executive producer. Warner Bros. International Television Distribution will be the global distributor for the programs.
Current Bad Robot television series produced through Warner Bros. Television include HBO’s “Westworld” and Hulu’s “Castle Rock,” the upcoming “Demimonde” (to be created by Abrams) and “Lovecraft Country” for HBO, as well as “Lisey’s Story,” “Little Voice” and “My Glory Was I Had Such Friends” for Apple TV+.
This comes after rumblings that Abrams could be taking a crack at Superman or another DC Comics superhero project, however, it is good news that Justice League Dark will see the light of day in some form.
The Guillermo del Toro project was going to feature some of the following characters.
- John Constantine aka Hellblazer
- Zatanna Zatara
- Jason Blood aka Etrigan the Demon
- Jim Corrigan aka The Spectre
- Alec Holland aka Swamp Thing
- Boston Brand aka Deadman
- The Phantom Stranger
It remains to be seen which characters will be used in this new HBO Max series and how they’ll approach it.
HBO Max is also developing Dune: The Sisterhood which would be a spinoff of the upcoming Dune films from Denis Villeneuve along with a Green Lantern series.
