This had been hinted at just recently but it’s now official. The J.J. Abrams series Demimonde, which was set to star Danielle Deadwyler, is officially dead at HBO after running into budget issues at Warner Bros. Discovery.
The series was to mark the first original created by J.J. Abrams since 2008’s Fringe. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the series’ ever-expanding budget became a big issue, especially after the Warner/Discovery merger. Abrams did make one last-ditch plea to HBO/HBO Max boss Casey Bloys to save the show from cancellation and Bloys took the week to do so. Despite Bloy’s best efforts, the decision was ultimately made to part ways with the series. Just how big was the budget? Reports say Abrams was seeking $200 million to make this show happen. For comparison’s sake, the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon had a budget below $200 million and that’s a part of a proven IP for the cable network.
Demimonde landed at HBO back in 2018 following a bidding war with AppleTV+. Now that HBO is off the table, the series will be shopped by Warner Bros. Television to other streamers, including back to Apple, with Netflix also being on the table. Abrams has had Little Voice and the limited series Lisey’s Story on Apple so that seems like the most logical choice. Oddly enough, Apple strongly pursued an overall pact with J.J. Abram’s Bad Robot but he reportedly turned down the rumored $500 million deal because of its exclusivity.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has been looking very hard at all of the studio’s pricey overall deals since coming into the fold. He has been tasked with trimming $3 billion from the newly merged company and he is said to be unhappy with the lack of output from Abrams and his Bad Robot banner, especially since they have a $250 million overall deal that was signed in 2019.
Demimonde was to feature Deadwyler as Olive Reed, a woman torn away from her husband and daughter in a brutal scientific accident. Soon she is forced to unravel a conspiracy to reunite with her family, now lost to a dark, distant world.
Do YOU want to see this J.J. Abrams series, Demimonde, find a home?