Apple on the short list for deal with J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot

According to Deadline, WarnerMedia and Apple may have emerged as frontrunners to land J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot production company.

Abrams and his team have engaged with the two companies, as well as Comcast/NBCUniversal and Sony over the past two months. Deadline says that word on the street is is that WarnerMedia on the traditional media side and Apple on the tech side have emerged as strong possibilities, with some indications that WarnerMedia may have the edge over the Silicon Valley giant. 

Abrams wrote or produced such films as Regarding Henry (1991), Forever Young (1992), Armageddon (1998), Cloverfield (2008), Star Trek (2009), Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015), and the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019).

Abrams has created numerous television series, including Felicity (co-creator, 1998–2002), Alias (creator, 2001–2006), Lost (co-creator, 2004–2010), and Fringe (co-creator, 2008–2013). He won two Emmy Awards for Lost — Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Drama Series.

Bad Robot is the film and TV production company led by Abrams. In 2006, Bad Robot teamed up with Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Television for a $60 million development deal [10] that lasted through 2018. In late 2018, it was announced that Bad Robot was leaving Paramount and seeking a new overall deal.

Abrams already has an Apple connection. He and actor Jennifer Garner (who starred in Alias) will reunite for My Glory Was I Had Such Friends, a limited TV series for the Apple TV+ streaming service, which is set to debut this fall.

Based on the 2017 memoir of the same name by Amy Silverstein, “the story showcases the power of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit as it follows an extraordinary group of women who supported Silverstein as she waited for a second life-saving heart transplant.”