WarnerMedia has emerged as the winner to producer and director J.J. Abrams’ talents. The company signed a $500 million, five-year overall deal with the Star Wars director and his production company, Bad Robot.
The bidding war for Abrams started last fall, with WarnerMedia and Apple becoming the front runners. It seems familiarity may have had a part to play, as Bad Robot has been based at Warner Bros. TV for years. The company produced some of HBO’s popular shows—Westworld, Lovecraft and Demimonde. HBO is also developing Bad Robot’s They Both Die At the End. Bad Robot Games—a video game development division which was formed in 2018—has also been working with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment as well as Tencent to create new large and indie consumer games for mobile, PC and console.
The new agreement allows Abrams to not only finish his film obligations at Paramount Pictures, but Bad Robot will also be able to create other shows for other companies via Warner Bros. TV. Currently, Abrams helms three of Apple TV+’s upcoming originals—Lisey’s Story, starring Julianne Moore; Sara Bareilles’ Little Voice; and My Glory Was I Had Such Friends, starring Jennifer Garner.