HBO Max claims new J.J. Abrams drama series starring ‘Lost’ and ‘This Is Us’ stars

HBO has gotten its hands on a new project led by legendary director J.J. Abrams with what appears to be a stellar cast on board. The drama, from Abrams and LaToya Morgan, is called Duster and is set in the 1970s. At the head of the cast will be Rachel Hilson and Josh Holloway.

You may know Hilson from series such as Love, Victor and This is Us where she plays Mia Brooks and Beth Clarke respectively. For Holloway this is not his first time working with the director having starred in the Lost series, however, more recently you will have seen him playing Roarke Morris in Yellowstone.

Duster follows the story of the first Black female FBI agent, Nina (Hilson), who recruits a gusty getaway driver, Jim (Holloway). Set in the Southwest in 1972, Hilson’s character will be taking bold measures as she attempts to take down a growing crime syndicate. Other actors featured include Keith David, Sydney Elisabeth, Greg Grunberg, Camille Guaty, Asivak Koostachin, Adriana Aluna Martinez, and Benjamin Charles Watson.

Abrams and Morgon (The Walking Dead, Into the Badlands) have co-written the first two episodes of the series together which will be directed by Steph Green (The Book of Boba Fett, The Man in the High Castle) according to IndieWire. Eight episodes in total have been greenlit for the first season.

In a statement, Abrams said,

“LaToya and I are thrilled at the chance to bring the wild, wily and wacky world of Duster to life, especially with this exceptional cast, crew and network.”

With Morgan adding,

“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.”

This is the result of a nine-figure deal made between Warner Media and Abrams’ Bad Robot company back in 2019. It was announced back in April of 2020 that Duster would be featured on the yet-to-launch HBO Max, the streaming platform would launch a month later in May.

Other projects of Abrams that were also said to be coming to the platform were later scrapped including The Shining offshoot Overlook and an unnamed Justice League Dark project (Overlook is currently being shopped to other potential buyers). A date for potential release is not yet known.