HBO Max orders Bad Robot shows, incl ‘The Shining’ & ‘Justice League’ dramas

The Shining

Soon-to-launch US streamer HBO Max has given the greenlight to three new one-hour dramas from JJ Abrams and Katie McGrath’s Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television Group.

The production commitments for the trio follows the exclusive production pact struck by Bad Robot and the streamer’s parent company WarnerMedia in autumn last year.

Duster, to be co-written by Abrams and LaToya Morgan (The Walking Dead), is set in the 1970’s South West US and follows a gutsy getaway driver working for a growing crime syndicate whose life spirals out of control.

Overlook is a horror-thriller series inspired by – and featuring characters from – Stephen King’s book The Shining, which was turned into the iconic 1980 horror movie. The show will explore the untold, terrifying stories of the famous haunted hotel and reunites Bad Robot, King and WBTV, who previously collaborated on psychological-horror series Castle Rock for Hulu.

The third show is described as a “major series” based on DC characters in the Justice League Dark Universe. Further details are yet to be revealed.

“What an amazing start to our association with the wildly imaginative Bad Robot team under JJ and Katie,” said Kevin Reilly, chief content officer at HBO Max and president of TNT, TBS, & truTV. “What could be better than an original JJ idea and then Warner Bros. letting them loose on iconic IP from Stephen King and the DC Universe to provide more must-have programming on HBO Max.”

All of the Bad Robot series for HBO Max will be executive produced by Abrams and former BBC drama chief Ben Stephenson, who heads up TV for the prodco. Rachel Rusch Rich, Bad Robot’s EVP of television will serve as a co-executive producer, while Warner Bros. International TV Distribution will sell globally.

Current Bad Robot TV series produced through Warner Bros. Television include HBO’s Westworld and Hulu’s Castle Rock. Upcoming shows include Demimonde, 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+.