J.J. Abrams to Reunite With Lost Star Josh Holloway in New HBO Max Series

HBO Max has ordered drama series Duster from J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan, with Lost alum Josh Holloway starring alongside Rachel Hilson.

The eight-episode series is a crime caper set in 1972 that follows the first Black female FBI agent who, according to the show’s official logline, “heads to the Southwest and recruits a gutsy getaway driver in a bold effort to take down a growing crime syndicate.”

This project reunites Abrams with Holloway, who is best known for his role as James ‘Sawyer’ Ford on the ABC drama Lost. He starred in more than 100 episodes of that long-running series, which Abrams co-created with Jeffrey Lieber and Damon Lindelof.

In Duster, Holloway will star as a character called Jim alongside Rachel Hilson as Nina. The cast also features Keith David, Sydney Elisabeth, Greg Grunberg, Camille Guaty, Asivak Koostachin, Adriana Aluna Martinez, and Benjamin Charles Watson.

“We are delighted to bring this high-voltage crime caper from the brilliant minds of J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan to the HBO Max audience,” said Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Content for HBO Max. “This show has all the elements of a great Max Original, with propulsive storytelling, fantastic characters, and some truly bad-ass car chases.”

Abrams and Morgan co-wrote the first two episodes of Duster, which are directed and executive produced by Steph Green. The series is executive produced by Abrams and Rachel Rusch Rich via Bad Robot, while Morgan executive produces for TinkerToy Productions.

“Duster is an amalgam of all my favorite things – high-octane storytelling with deep characters and so much heart,” Morgan said. “It’s a dream project and I’m supremely grateful to all the folks at Warner Bros. and HBO Max for believing in this show. And I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in crime than J.J. to build this incredible world.”

Abrams added, “LaToya and I are thrilled at the chance to bring the wild, wily and wacky world of Duster to life, especially with this exceptional cast, crew and network.”

The series was first reported as being in development at HBO Max in April 2020. Duster was one of three high-concept projects at Bad Robot to be given production commitments at the time, though it wasn’t guaranteed that all of them would make it to series.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.