Upcoming Duster [HBO Max]

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J.J. Abrams has set his first three series at HBO Max.

WarnerMedia's forthcoming streaming service has handed out straight-to-series orders for Duster, The Shining offshoot Overlook and what is described as a "major" show based on DC Comics characters in the Justice League Dark universe. All three shows will be exec produced by Abrams and his wife and Bad Robot partner, Katie McGrath, and Warner Bros. TV Group.

Duster will be co-written by Abrams and LaToya Morgan (The Walking Dead, Parenthood, Shameless), and was conceived by the former. It is set in the 1970s Southwest and revolves around the life of a gutsy getaway driver for a growing crime syndicate who goes from awful to wildly, stupidly, dangerously awful.

"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."

All three series will be exec produced by Abrams, Bad Robot's head of television Ben Stephenson, with the company's exec vp TV Rachel Rusch Rich serving as a co-EP. Warner Bros. International TV Distribution will handle global distribution on all three programs.

For Bad Robot, meanwhile, Overlook, Duster and the JLD show are the first three series to stem from the company's newest overall deal with Warners. The sweeping deal, which was in the works for more than a year with other media titans pursuing Abrams and company, brings Bad Robot's film and TV work under the same roof for the first time. All told, this is Bad Robot's latest streaming series and joins Apple's Lisey's Story, Little Voice and My Glory Was I Had Such Friends as well as Hulu's Castle Rock, with the latter awaiting word on its future. The company also exec produces HBO's Westworld and the premium cable network's forthcoming Lovecraft Country and Demimonde, with the latter having been created by Abrams.

HBO Max is poised to launch at a date to be determined in May. The platform will be the exclusive streaming home for libraries of Friends and The Big Bang Theory as well as originals from across the Warner Media brand including HBO, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and more. The service, which will cost $15 a month, will be home to scripted originals including new takes on Dune, Gossip Girl, The Boondocks, Gremlins, Grease and Green Lantern as the platform leans hard into IP.

via The Hollywood Reporter