AceShowbiz -

HBO wins the bidding war for J.J. Abrams' new sci-fi drama titled "Demimonde", defeating Apple. The premium-cable network apparently is not planning to waste time as it confirmed on Thursday, February 1 that it gave the new project a series pickup.

"Demimonde" is described as "an epic and intimate sci-fi fantasy drama." The title itself is a French word which means "half-world". It is used to describe hedonists.

Marking the first series that Abrams has written since "Fringe" in 2008, "Demominde" is executive produced by Ben Stephenson from Abrams' Bad Robot. Abrams also joins Stephenson in executive producing the upcoming drama.

"Demominde" is the third Bad Robot series on HBO, joining "Westworld" and forthcoming series "Lovecraft Country", the latter of which is based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Matt Ruff. The production company is also currently developing a space drama titled "Glare" at the network.

In addition to "Demimonde", J.J. Abrams is executive producing Hulu's upcoming thriller series "Castle Rock". Set in Stephen King's fictional Maine town, the shared-universe series recently released its new teaser which saw Andre Holland's Henry being drawn back to his gloomy hometown.

Offering some references to Stephen King's works, the teaser briefly glimpsed the appearance of Bill Skarsgard's still-unnamed inmate character, leading lady Melanie Lynskey's real estate agent Molly Strand and Sissy Spacek's character. Spacek's character looked frightened after a blood-soaked German Shepherd appeared before her as she later warned Henry about "something terrible" which was going to happen.

Meanwhile, in the feature film department, Abrams, whose credits include "Lost", "Alias" and "Felicity", is set to provide the script for "Star Wars Episode IX". Having written and helmed "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", he is also tapped to serve behind the lens for the upcoming installment of the popular sci-fi franchise.