HBO Max cancels J.J. Abrams’ show Demimonde

J.J. Abrams revived Star Trek and Star Wars for modern audiences, but not every project can be a winner. In 2019 the producer-director signed a $250 million deal to make a show called Demimonde, which was about…well, we never quite got to that part. We knew Danielle Deadwyler was going to play the lead. The word “demimonde” usually refers to a kind of criminal underground. So…maybe that?

But it doesn’t matter now, because HBO Max has cancelled the show, according to The A.V. Club. We’d heard before that the execs were getting frustrated with Abrams not having put much work into developing the show despite them ordering it straight to series and committing to pay a boatload of money — the first season of Demimonde was going to cost more than House of the Dragon, and to this day no one knows what it was about — so this news isn’t terribly surprising.

Apparently Abrams and HBO Max are still on good terms, and he’s free to shop the show around to other networks or streamers. Wanna know what’s inside the mystery box, guys?

J.J. Abrams projects on the way

Abrams, ever the busy bee, still has plenty going on. He’s working on a Speed Racer series for HBO, a scripted U2 show for Netflix, a Presumed Innocent TV series, and more. He’s also producing another season of Westworld. One rejection isn’t going to deter Mr. Abrams; he will be in every corner of your life whether you want him there or not.

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