J.J Abrams has just locked in his first major projects for HBO Max under his lucrative new deal with Warner Bros.
The forthcoming WarnerMedia streamer has given out straight-to-series orders for three new shows from Abrams: aDC Comics show based on Justice Leagie Dark, a spinoff of The Shining called Overlook, and an original series titled Duster.
“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 at HBO Max. “What could be better than an original J.J. idea and then Warner Bros. letting them loose on iconic IP from Stephen King and the DC Universe and to provide more must-have programming on HBO Max.”
The first is described as a major DC Comics show featuring characters from Justice League Dark. Mainstays of the team include John Constantine, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Swamp Thing, and Zatanna. The team were previously announced to be getting a live-action film set in the DCEU, with both Guillermo del Toro and Doug Liman tackling the project at different points. Both Constantine and Swamp Thing have gotten their own TV series’, and there is no word on if the upcoming HBO Max series will connect to either.
The second is a spinoff of The Shining called Overlook. The series, based on the hotel from the movie, was rumored to be a film spinoff to be developed by Glen Mazzara, who wrote the script, and Mark Romanek, who was attached to direct. Insiders now suggest that the 10-episode drama is being written and produced by Castle Rock’s Dustin Thomason and Scott Brown.
The third show is called Duster, which is co-written by Abrams and LaToya Morgan (The Walking Dead, Parenthood, Shameless), based on an original idea from Abrams. The series follows the life of a brave gateaway driver whose adventures range from awful to stupid to dangerous. Duster is set in the American southwest in the 1970s.
All shows listed will be executive produced by Abrams and Bad Robot’s head of television Ben Stephenson. Rachael Rich. executive VP TV will service as a co-executive producer, with Warner Bros. International TV Distribution handling global distribution on all three programs.
Talkies Network 