J.J. Abrams, at last count, is attached to 37 upcoming projects as a writer, director or producer. In television and on the big screen, Abrams boasts an impeccable record for new concepts. So, it’s important to keep up with what he’s up to. Let’s look at all of the upcoming projects that J.J. Abrams has in development.
J.J. Abrams is a master, so we should pay attention to his upcoming projects.
Abrams’ Lost indisputably changed TV forever. Later, he cemented his place atop the entertainment world with a series of sequels and revamps of established film franchises. Breathing new life into Star Wars and Star Trek and reigniting their respective fan-bases created an almost mythological aura around his ability to make any project successful.
Under his Bad Robot production company banner, Abrams has earned a spot atop the media landscape.
What are all of the J.J. Abrams projects in the works?
Take a breath because this list of Abrams’ upcoming projects is quite expansive:
- A Women of No Importance (Producer)
- Castle Rock (Executive Producer)
- Untitled Star Trek Sequel (Producer)
- Hot For Teacher (Executive Producer)
- Mystery of 5th Avenue (Producer)
- Untitled J.J. Abrams Earthquake Project (Producer)
- Little Darlings (Producer)
- Let the Great World Spin (Producer)
- Boilerplate (Producer)
- 7 Minutes in Heaven (Producer)
- Zanbato (Producer)
- Untitled Brad Parker/J.J. Abrams/Matt Reeves Project (Unknown)
- Wunderkind (Producer)
- Untitled Josh Campbell/Matt Stuecken Project (Unknown)
- One Last Thing Before I Go (Producer)
- Untitled Lance Armstrong Project (Unknown)
- Half-Life (Producer)
- The Stops Along the Way (Director)
- Death of a King (Executive Producer)
- The Nix (Executive Producer)
- Dream Jumper (Producer)
- Portal (Producer)
- The Flamingo Affair (Producer)
- Beta (Producer)
- Collider (Producer)
- Kolma (Producer)
- Lou (Producer)
- Micronauts (Producer)
- Overlord (Producer/Creator)
- The Invisible Women (Producer)
- Untitled Ru Paul Project (Executive Producer)
- A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea (Producer)
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Executive Producer)
- Cloverfield Movie (Producer)
- Glare (Executive Producer)
- M:I 6 – Mission Impossible (Producer)
- Westworld Season 2 (Executive Producer)
The sheer volume is overwhelming. Even if half of these actually end up in production, it would require an epic effort for Abrams to keep up with the demand.
That being said, which of these projects can we look most forward to? Here are the top four J.J. Abrams projects that we can’t wait to experience…
M:I 6
If you missed M:I 5 – Rogue Nation, you are doing yourself a grave disservice. Rogue Nation presents as an A+ in the action-adventure genre. Although Abrams was hands-off for the most part, his fingerprints are detected in the overall presentation. Abrams directed the third adventure of the IMF, co-writing the script with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
Due out in July of 2018, the 6th installment of this highly successful franchise will be directed by Chris McQuarrie (Jack Reacher and Rogue Nation). Tom Cruise returns and Abrams again gets top billing as producer. Cruise has coveted Abrams insight since his first involvement with M:I 3. These films always find their own special way to deliver audiences a thrill ride around the world.
While we are super excited about this release, we would love to see more Mission Impossible. It’s always seemed like a no-brainer that someone would make this into a television series since that’s where the property originated. The concept of a central character assembling different crews each episode seems perfect for a 10-episode Netflix or HBO series.
Castle Rock
How does J.J. Abrams make a great horror series? He teams up with horror icon Stephen King. Castle Rock will be released on Hulu and, according to their official description is:
“A psychological-horror series set in the Stephen King multiverse, Castle Rock combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King’s best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland.”
Many of King’s classic stories take place in this area of the country including The Shining, The Body, and Needful Things. Sprinkling the Abrams magic onto the King legacy has the potential for amazing results. Castle Rock has a higher ceiling for intrigue as it is not based on an actual book. Rather, it is based on characters and concepts from a collection of popular stories.
This marks the second Hulu collaboration between King and Abrams. Based on the King novel, 11/22/63 released last year and has built up quite the following. It follows traveling back in time with plans to prevent the JFK assassination. Abrams will be executive producing the series with King contributing as a creative consultant. It releases sometime next year.
Westworld Season 2
HBO hit it big last year with two highly successful new shows to complement their world-beating Game of Thrones. The Night Of gave us 10 episodes of murder mystery and intrigue. Westworld arrived as a sci-fi Western featuring a fantastic cast of actors. Dramatic and intriguing, the 10-episode series follows takes place in a fantasy western world where humans interact with robots called “hosts.”
Season 1 broke all the ratings records for an HBO series in its initial season. It beat out the like of Game of Thrones and the Sopranos. Along the way, it earned an 89% from Rotten Tomatoes critics with a 92% audience score. Anchored by Hollywood royalty Ed Harris and Anthony Hopkins, Westworld boasts and all-star cast, earning many nominations for best ensemble.
Abrams is an executive producer on the show and, like many, was pleasantly surprised at the show’s success. Season 2, though, promises to be even more crazy. Fans and critics alike are eagerly awaiting the 2018 release.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Contracting the Herculean task of resurrecting the Star Wars franchise is not a job for a lightweight. Universally, Abrams is praised for his writing and direction of Episode VII: The Force Awakens. He was the guy to make the franchise cool again and bring it into the modern era without losing the key elements that endeared it to the fans for decades. Similar to his work with Star Trek, The Force Awakens introduced a new cast of characters while bringing back many familiar faces.
In The Last Jedi, Abrams takes a step back to the role of executive producer. However, let’s not pretend that he will not be heavily involved in much of what we see on screen. He collaborated on the script and has been working with director Rian Johnson. Abrams reportedly was so excited about the script for this sequel that he wishes he would not have given up the director’s chair.
No matter what role Abrams undertakes in the sequels, it is evident that Disney has dubbed him the gate keeper for the franchise. No one appears better suited for that job. Star Wars fanatics and critics alike gushed about The Force Awakens and can’t wait for another journey to a “galaxy far, far away.” We are officially on the clock for The Last Jedi which releases in December of this year.
Many of Abrams’s upcoming projects evoke excitement in his fan-base. A return to Star Trek, a Lance Armstrong film and a return to Cloverfield are all in the pipeline for Hollywood’s busiest executive. All 37 projects may not see the light of day, but those that do promise to deliver the way J.J. Abrams always does.
