HBO Max Orders J.J. Abrams And LaToya Morgan's Duster To Series
For those like me who pay way too much attention to these sorts of things, you may remember the news that filmmaker J.J. Abrams had signed an immensely profitable deal with Warner Bros. Discovery (although, at the time, they were known as WarnerMedia). This enabled him to write, produce, and direct various projects on both the big screen and small, with the freedom to sell certain projects to other distributors as well as producing original stories for Warner Bros. and HBO Max. Discerning readers may also recall that, in the years since, absolutely nothing has actually come from that high-profile agreement — not for lack of trying, mind you. There was that double-whammy announcement of a "Justice League Dark" project and a spin-off of "The Shining" called "Overlook" that had nerds everywhere all hyped up. Unfortunately, those ultimately never came to fruition for various reasons, along with an incredibly expensive sci-fi series called "Demimonde."
Finally, however, we're about to see the first series produced from that original deal and, intriguingly, it's set to reunite Abrams with a very familiar face from their days on "Lost."
HBO Max announced that they have given a full series order to "Duster," a new series from co-creators Abrams and LaToya Morgan ("Shameless," "Into the Badlands," "The Walking Dead") that stars Rachel Hilson ("This Is Us," "Love, Victor") and "Lost" alum Josh Holloway. Described as an "eight-episode drama," the first two episodes of the series will be directed by Steph Green ("The Americans," HBO's "Watchmen") from scripts written by Abrams and Morgan. The official logline is as follows:
In 1972, the first Black female FBI agent heads to the Southwest and recruits a gutsy getaway driver in a bold effort to take down a growing crime syndicate.
Duster comes to HBO Max
Good things come to those who wait, apparently. Years after originally signing a first-look deal with WarnerMedia, J.J. Abrams is finally getting his chance to bring a buzzy television project all the way across the finish line. "Duster" follows Rachel Hilson as the first Black female agent in the FBI's history named Nina and Josh Holloway as the getaway driver Jim that she recruits during her mission to thwart a sprawling crime syndicate. The series stars an ensemble cast that includes prolific character actor Keith David as a character named Ezra, Sydney Elisabeth as Genesis, longtime Abrams collaborator and friend Greg Grunberg as Abbott, Camille Guaty as Izzy, Asivak Koostachin as Awan, Adriana Aluna Martinez as Luna, and Benjamin Charles Watson as Royce.
LaToya Morgan had this to say about the news:
"'Duster' is an amalgam of all my favorite things -– high octane storytelling with deep characters and so much heart. It's a dream project and I'm supremely grateful to all the folks at Warner Bros. and HBO Max for believing in this show. And I couldn't have asked for a better partner in crime than J.J. to build this incredible world."
The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television and also counts Abrams, Morgan, Steph Green, and Bad Robot's Rachel Rusch Rich as executive producers. No release date has yet been announced, but stay tuned to /Film for more updates on this project as they come in.