HBO Max has orderedOverlook, a spinoff series about the haunted hotel inThe Shining, from Warner Bros. Television Group and Bad Robot, the company run byJ.J. Abramsand his co-CEO/wifeKatie McGrath.
Overlook is described as a horror-thriller series inspired by and featuring iconic characters fromStephen King’s masterpieceThe Shining.Overlookwill explore the untold, terrifying stories of the most famous haunted hotel in American fiction. The project reunites Bad Robot, King and WBTV, who previously collaborated on Hulu’s horror seriesCastle Rock. Warner Bros. had previously been developing anOverlookmovie with directorMark Romanek, who said he was very proud of the script, which he recentlyshed some light on here.
HBO Max has also orderedDuster, which Abrams himself will co-write withLaToya Morgan. Set in the Southwest in the 1970s, the series follows a gutsy getaway driver for a growing crime syndicate whose life goes from awful to wildly, stupidly, dangerously awful. Currently a writer onThe Walking Dead, Morgan previously served as a co-executive producer and writer of AMC’sInto the BadlandsandTURN: Washington’s Spies, and was a writer for NBC’sParenthoodand Showtime’sShameless.
HBO Max has given production commitments to both shows, as well as a major series based on the DC characters in theJustice League Darkuniverse. Details are slim, but you can read more about that propertyright here.
These three shows are Bad Robot’s first for HBO Max since Abrams signed a wide-ranging deal with WarnerMedialast fall. All of the Bad Robot series for HBO Max will be executive produced by Abrams and the company’s head of television,Ben Stephenson, whileRachel Rusch Richwill serve as a co-executive producer.
“What an amazing start to our association with the wildly imaginative Bad Robot team under J.J. and Katie,” saidKevin 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 I.P. from Stephen King and the DC Universe.”
In addition to Hulu’sCastle Rock, Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television are also behind HBO’sWestworld, as well as the network’s upcoming seriesLovecraft CountryandDemimonde. Bad Robot also has several Apple series on the horizon, including an adaptation of King’sLisey’s StorystarringJulianne Moore,Clive OwenandDane DeHaan. For more on that project straight from DeHaan,click here.
