J.J. Abrams: Latest News, Analysis & Opinion

Latest News and Opinion

Posted Monday 4/16/18 at 5:49PM EDT Showtime is remaking The Wrong Mans starring Ben Schwartz, with James Corden and J.J. Abrams producing

The 2013 BBC action comedy that Corden co-created and co-starred in is getting an American remake with Corden producing along with Abrams' Bad Robot productions. Schwartz will play one of two office workers whose life is turned upside down by a chance phone call and a case of mistaken identity.

# TOPICS: Showtime, The Wrong Mans, Ben Schwartz, James Corden, J.J. Abrams
Posted Tuesday 4/03/18 at 6:29PM EDT Felicity stars will have their 20th-anniversary reunion at the ATX Festival

Keri Russell will be joined by Scott Speedman, Tangi Miller, Amanda Foreman, Amy Jo Johnson and Ian Gomez. No word yet if Scott Foley or creators J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves will be in attendance. The ATX Festival will also have a panel of ABC's TGIF alumni.

# TOPICS: The WB, Felicity, J.J. Abrams, Keri Russell, Scott Speedman, Retro TV, TGIF

Posted Friday 3/16/18 at 10:02PM EDT How much did Alias influence Counterpart?

Viewers have noticed that J.K. Simmons' Starz drama has parallels to J.J. Abrams' ABC spy series starring Jennifer Garner. "Both series have alternate universes, liberal use of doppelgangers, and an increasingly tense and at times deadly turf war between the two worlds," as Ron Gilmore points out.

# TOPICS: Counterpart, Starz, Alias, Jennifer Garner, J.J. Abrams
Posted Sunday 3/04/18 at 2:12PM EST SNL usually shies away from parodying tragedy, but not when it came to President Trump and Parkland
"Saturday Night Live usually responds to a national tragedy by eschewing comedy. Usually, it has no choice," says Avi Selk. "...But when SNL returned to the air this weekend after a month-long hiatus during which the country’s worst high school shooting massacre occurred, the show used President Trump to bridge the gap between the tragic and the ridiculous."
ALSO:
- SNL spoofs the Oscars and Hollywood's sexual harassment problem with "The Grabbies"
- J.J. Abrams made a cameo with Charles Barkley in a cut-for-time Star Wars-themed sketch
# TOPICS: Saturday Night Live, NBC, Alec Baldwin, Charles Barkley, Harvey Weinstein, J.J. Abrams, Florida School Shooting, Sexual Misconduct, Trump Presidency

Posted Thursday 2/22/18 at 3:48AM EST J.J. Abrams took Stephen Colbert's audience to watch his Broadway play

Abrams surprised The Late Show audience Wednesday with tickets to The Play That Goes Wrong, which he's producing.

# TOPICS: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS, J.J. Abrams, Stephen Colbert, Late Night
Posted Thursday 2/01/18 at 6:10PM EST HBO wins bidding war over Apple for J.J. Abrams’ Demimonde space drama

HBO has given a straight-to-series order to Demimonde, the first TV series Abrams has personally written since Fringe in 2008. According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO — which describes the sci-fi series as “an epic and intimate sci-fi fantasy drama” — beat out Apple because Abrams was impressed with what the pay cable network did with Westworld. The Hollywood Reporter describes Demimonde as being about “a family — consisting of a mother who works as a scientist, her husband and their young daughter — who all get into a terrible car crash. After the mother winds up in a coma, her daughter begins digging through her experiments in the basement and winds up transporting to another land amid a world's battle against a monstrous, oppressive force. Her father then follows her into this new world.”

# TOPICS: Apple, HBO, Demimonde, Fringe, J.J. Abrams

Posted Tuesday 1/16/18 at 6:10PM EST HBO and Apple vying for new J.J. Abrams TV space drama

The untitled project would be the first series Abrams has written and created since Fringe in 2008, and HBO and Apple are each reportedly interested in adding it to their lineup. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “the Abrams drama is about a family — consisting of a mother who works as a scientist, her husband and their young daughter — who all get into a terrible car crash. After the mother winds up in a coma, her daughter begins digging through her experiments in the basement and winds up transporting to another land amid a world's battle against a monstrous, oppressive force. Her father then follows her into this new world.”

# TOPICS: Apple, HBO, Fringe, J.J. Abrams, Pilots
Posted Tuesday 11/14/17 at 2:17AM EST J.J. Abrams made a star-studded movie trailer as a 50th birthday present to Jimmy Kimmel

Ben Affleck and Abrams surprised Kimmel on his 50th birthday by turning the comic Kimmel drew as a kid, The Terrific Ten, into a movie trailer featuring everybody from Matt Damon and Jennifer Aniston. During the hour, George Clooney presented The Jimmy Kimmel Story, and Kimmel was also subjected to "Mean Tweets: Jimmy Kimmel Edition," featuring David Letterman, Stephen Colbert, Kim Kardashian and Howard Stern.

# TOPICS: ABC, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Jimmy Kimmel, J.J. Abrams, Matt Damon, Late Night, Mean Tweets

Posted Monday 10/09/17 at 3:47PM EDT Hulu releases a creepy trailer for Castle Rock, J.J. Abrams’ Stephen King-inspired anthology series

The self-contained first season will have the tone and feel of a Stephen King series with an original story that “brushes up against the characters” from King’s many stories, according to creator Dustin Thomason.

# TOPICS: Hulu, Castle Rock, Dustin Thomason, J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, Trailers & Teasers
Posted Tuesday 8/29/17 at 2:56PM EDT Terry O’Quinn is reuniting with J.J. Abrams on Hulu’s Castle Rock

The two previously worked together on Lost and Alias. O’Quinn will have a starring role on the psychological-horror drama that Abrams is producing with Stephen King.

# TOPICS: Hulu, Alias, Castle Rock, Lost, J.J. Abrams, Stephen King, Terry O’Quinn

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