HBO and Apple in bidding war for new Abrams sci-fi series

THE “STAR Wars: The Force Awakens” director seems set to make a small screen comeback. According to websites Tvline, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, the “Lost” creator has written a new sci-fi series that’s the subject of a bidding war between HBO and Apple.

Although kept busy with movie projects in recent years, J.J. Abrams has remained in close contact with his first field of interest, TV.

He notably produced “Westworld” for HBO, “Person of Interest” for CBS and the “22.11.63” miniseries for streaming site Hulu. However, he hasn’t written anything since “Fringe,” which screened on Fox between 2008 and 2013.

Needless to say, broadcasters are falling over themselves to get their hands on his new sciencefiction drama series, with HBO and Apple reportedly locked in a bidding war to snare the project.

The series, called “Demimonde,” according to Tvline, reportedly focuses on a parallel world’s battle against a monstrous, oppressive force. This world is supposedly discovered by a young girl carrying out experiments in the basement of her family home. It also seems that her scientist mother ends up in a coma following a car accident.

Abrams has reportedly written the screenplay, may direct and would also produce, via his company Bad Robot Productions.

It remains to be seen when Abrams would have the time to get the project off the ground given his busy schedule. Currently involved in the “Cloverfield” and “Star Trek” franchises (he is, moreover, working on an idea with Quentin Tarantino), J.J. Abrams is no doubt pretty busy writing “Star Wars” episode nine, which he will produce and direct this summer. He is also producing the Stephen King-inspired anthology series “Castle Rock,” coming soon to Hulu.