Josh Holloway and Rachel Hilson bring the ’70s vibes in the first look at Duster, a new Max series from J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan.
It’s been 15 years since J.J. Abrams’ last TV series, but the man with the mystery box is back! THR has the first look at Duster, a high-octane drama series starring Josh Holloway and Rachel Hilson that Abrams co-created with LaToya Morgan
Set in 1972, Duster follows the “first Black female FBI agent (Hilson) as she heads to the Southwest and recruits a gutsy getaway driver (Holloway) in a bold effort to take down a growing crime syndicate (led by Keith David).” You can check out some of the first look photos from Duster below.
The last TV series which Abrams co-created was Undercovers, all the way back in 2010. He’s been involved in other shows since then as an executive producer, but this is his first time writing a series since the release of Undercovers.
“I had this image of a phone in the middle of the desert and a car driving up, and a guy getting on the phone to find out where he was meant to go next,” Abrams told THR of the origins of the series. “It implied some kind of crazy intrigue, and I didn’t know what the answer was, but I knew it was compelling. LaToya and I started talking about who this guy might be, and I always knew there would be an FBI agent who showed up. But it wasn’t until we started talking about what her story is, that we started building this story towards something that felt twisty and turn-y and ultimately really satisfying. That became the goal: How do we tell a crazy story that actually ends up being driven towards one point and where we’re actually headed towards something that feels inevitable? Where we would have the vibe of it, the spirit of it, the sense of humor and the sense of absurdity?“
LaToya Morgan added, “The thing that was most exciting for me was that we could do something that was a throwback to things that are not really on television anymore. You could have this fun pastiche of action and humor. It was really a chance to jump into something with both feet.“
As you might expect from an Abrams project, Duster isn’t as straightforward as initially presented. “There are a lot of things that you don’t expect,” Abrams explained. “What I love about the show, and what I think LaToya and I had the most fun with, is you never quite know, when you open a door, what kind of unexpected criminal mind is going to be behind it. The most satisfying thing for me was seeing how so many these elements — some of which seem crazy and out there — end up actually serving a real narrative purpose. Also, every episode feels like it’s ending on a fun cliffhanger vibe that you get from serialized comics.“
Duster has been a long time coming. It was originally announced in 2020 along with two other shows Abrams was involved with: Overlook and Justice League: Dark. Both of those shows were ultimately scrapped, but Duster survived. The show doesn’t have an official release date yet, but it is expected to premiere on Max later this year.
