HBO Max has ordered a new drama series helmed by J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan and starring Rachel Hilson and Josh Holloway.

The eight-episode period drama, Duster, takes place in the 1970s and follows the first Black female FBI agent as she heads to the Southwest and recruits a getaway driver in a bold effort to take down a growing crime syndicate, according to the streaming service.

“We are delighted to bring this high-voltage crime caper from the brilliant minds of J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan to the HBO Max audience,” HBO Max Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey said in a statement. “This show has all the elements of a great Max Original, with propulsive storytelling, fantastic characters, and some truly bad-ass car chases.”

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Along with Hilson and Holloway, Duster stars Keith David, Sydney Elisabeth, Greg Grunberg, Camille Guaty, Asivak Koostachin, Adriana Aluna Martinez and Benjamin Charles Watson.

Abrams and Morgan serve as executive producers for the series, along with Rachel Rusch Rich, according to HBO Max. ■ 

Showtime will premiere in August a documentary series from J.J. Abrams that explores the fascination behind unidentified flying objects, the network said. 

The four-part series, UFO, debuts Aug. 8 and explores unsettling theories of a subject that recently reached national headlines, and what clandestine influence the American government, lucrative private companies and the military may have in shielding the truth behind extraterrestrial phenomena to further their own agendas, according to Showtime.

The series follows the bombshell New York Times story in 2017 revealing that the Pentagon had been secretly tracking UFOs for years, and examines the history of the phenomenon through cultural and political touchpoints, including testimony from eyewitnesses across the country.

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UFO is a co-production by Bad Robot and Zipper Bros Films. The Showtime streaming service will release all four episodes of the new series UFO to its subscribers at midnight on Aug. 8, prior to its on-air debut on the premium channel that evening, said the network.  

HBO Wednesday announced an Aug. 16 premiere date for its new scripted drama series Lovecraft Country.

The 10-episode series, based on the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, follows the exploits of an African-American man and his female childhood friend as they travel through 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father. Their search-and-rescue turns into a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and monstrous creatures, according to HBO.

The series, executive produced by Misha Green, J.J. Abrams, Jordan Peele, Bill Carraro, Yann Demange, Daniel Sackheim and David Knoller, stars Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett, Courtney B. Vance and Jada Harris. 

Lovecraft Country is produced by afemme, Inc., Bad Robot Productions and Monkeypaw Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Apple TV Plus Friday debuted a first-look teaser trailer for its original series Little Voice, which debuts July 10 on the streaming service.

The coming-of-age drama series about finding your authentic voice—and the courage to use it -- stars Brittany O’Grady as a uniquely talented performer struggling to fulfill her dreams while navigating rejection, love, and complicated family issues. 

J.J. Abrams, Sara Bareilles, Jessie Nelson and Ben Stephenson serve as executive producers for Little Voice. Bareilles is featured in the video performing the original theme song to the show. 

Producer J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot has signed a deal under which it will create original projects for television, movies, games and digital platforms with AT&T’s WarnerMedia unit.

Bad Robot previously had been working exclusively with Warner Bros. on TV projects and Viacom’s Paramount on films.

The deal comes at a time when top producers with proven track records like Abrams are in big demand as media companies consolidate to compete in the streaming world. There were reports that bidding for Bad Robot could reach as high as $500 million. Earlier deals for Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy were in the multi-hundred million dollar range.

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Financial details were not disclosed.

AT&T is in the process of putting together HBO Max. It will be revealing details of that streaming service in October.

The new agreement builds on 13-year relationship between Abrams and Warner Bros. that began in 2006. Bad Robot and Warner Bros. renewed the television component in 2012 and 2015.

“It is a thrill for Katie [McGrath], Brian [Weinstein] and me and the rest of our team at Bad Robot to call WarnerMedia our company’s new home,” Abrams said. ”I could go on for hours, and probably will, about the extraordinary Peter Roth and the entire Warner’s television group, with whom we’ve worked for over a decade, and I’ve wanted to collaborate with Toby Emmerich and his team for as long as I can remember. I am grateful for the chance to write, produce and direct work for this incredible company, and to help create films and series with a diverse and vast collection of inspiring storytellers. We can’t wait to get started.”

Bad Robot will honor existing obligations to Paramount Pictures and J.J. Abrams is directing and producing the release of The Rise of Skywalker, the final installment of the Star Wars Skywalker saga.

Working with Warner Bros.Television, Bad Robot has produced series including Fringe for Fox, Person of Interest for CBS, Westworld, Castle Rock and 11.22.63 for Hulu.

Before working with Warner Bros., Abrams helped create Alias, Lost and Felicity.

HBO will adapt the 1973 Michael Crichton film Westworld into a series, the network announced via Twitter Monday.

Westworld, which follows an amusement park populated by lifelike robots, will premiere on the pay service in 2015, said the network.

J.J. Abrams (Lost, Fringe) will executively produce the series, which will star Anthony Hopkins.  

Hulu has greenlit a nine-hour series based on the assassination of President Kennedy, the OTT service announced Monday.

The series, 11/22/63, is based on a Stephen King novel in which high school English teacher Jake Epping travels back in time to prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The series is from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions (Person of Interest, Fringe, Lost), King, executive producer/writer Bridget Carpenter (The Red Road, Parenthood, Friday Night Lights) and Warner Bros. Television. Carpenter will write the teleplay, with Bad Robot’s Kathy Lingg serving as co-executive producer and Athena Wickham as producer.

 “J.J. Abrams and Stephen King are two of the most celebrated storytellers of our time, and we are excited to be working with them and Warner Bros,” said Craig Erwich, senior  vice president and head of content for Hulu in a statement. “11/22/63 already resonated with audiences as a best-selling novel, and we are looking forward to bringing the riveting story to the screen.”

Showtime has given a pilot production order to a new hour-long comedy written and directed by executive producer Cameron Crowe. 

The series, called Roadies, draws from Crowe’s experiences as a Rolling Stone contributor, in which he spent time on the road with bands such as the Allman Brothers. Crowe previously explored these themes in his semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous.

Roadies will focus on the behind-the-scenes crew members of a rock ‘n roll tour.

Winnie Holzman will serve as executive producer and showrunner for the series, with J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk also serving as executive producers.

Crowe explained that he and Abrams have been discussing the idea for the pilot for a long time.

“I love that we’re finally doing Roadies. J.J. and I have been talking about it for some time. We’re fans of crews, those workers up on the rigging towers, or walking feverishly with eight phones on their belt,” said Crowe in a statement.