J.J. Abrams Sci-Fi Drama Demimonde Officially Scrapped at HBO

Dave Nemetz
·1 min read
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J.J. Abrams’ big comeback as a TV writer isn’t happening after all: HBO has scrapped Abrams’ sci-fi drama Demimonde, more than four years after handing it a series order, TVLine has learned.

The official announcement comes two weeks after The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Demimonde was on the bubble, with David Zaslav — the CEO of HBO’s newly formed parent company Warner Bros. Discovery — reportedly voicing frustrations about the lack of output from the rich overall deal HBO signed with Abrams’ production company Bad Robot. Abrams was reportedly seeking a budget for Demimonde that topped $200 million, a number that even tops the budget of the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon.

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Details on Demimonde were sketchy, but it was described as “an epic and intimate sci-fi fantasy drama” about a world’s battle against a monstrously oppressive force. Abrams wrote and created the series, in what would have been his first solo creator credit since ABC’s Alias way back in 2001. (He co-created Lost and Fringe with other writers.)

Demimonde landed a straight-to-series order from HBO in February 2018 after a bidding war with Apple TV+. Not much news emerged on the project in the years that followed, though, until this April, when Danielle Deadwyler (Station Eleven, Watchmen) was cast in a starring role as “a woman who is torn away from her husband and daughter in a brutal scientific accident.”

Are you bummed we won’t get to see J.J. Abrams’ vision for Demimonde? Hit the comments to share your thoughts.

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