Bad Robot is an American film and television production company led by J. J. Abrams. Under its Bad Robot Productions division, the company is responsible for the television seriesAlias, Lost, Fringe, Person of Interest, Revolution and Westworld alongside the feature-length films Cloverfield, Star Trek, Super 8, Star Trek Into Darkness, ', ', Star Wars Episodes and ', 10 Cloverfield Lane, Star Trek Beyond, The Cloverfield Paradox, ', and Overlord.
Behind The Scenes
Bad Robot was originally based at Touchstone Television, but was moved by Abrams to Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Television, after his contract with ABC expired in 2006. Bad Robot produced Lost in association with ABC Studios, formerly Touchstone Television. The two companies jointly produced Six Degrees and What About Brian. Abrams is Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Bad Robot, and Katie McGrath serves as the Company's Co-Chief Executive Officer. In June 2017, Bad Robot announced that Brian Weinstein would become President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing daily operations and spearhead the company's growth strategy in its existing businesses, while developing new areas of expansion across the entire Bad Robot platform and pursuing alternative financing options. In May 2015, Ben Stephenson left the BBC where he had been head of drama to helm Bad Robot Television. Lindsey Weber leads Bad Robot's feature film division. The production logo has appeared since 2001, featuring a red rectangular headed robot running through a meadow silhouetted until it appears suddenly in front of the camera, followed by voices provided by two of Abrams's children, Henry and Gracie Abrams, saying "Bad robot!" Although some fans believe that the name comes from a line in the animated film The Iron Giant, Abrams told Entertainment Weekly that it simply came to him during a writers' meeting. In February 2013, it was announced that Bad Robot would be partnering with the Valve to produce possibly a Half-Life or Portal film in the distant future. In August 2015, Valve released a new beta game mode to Team Fortress 2, PASS Time, which Bad Robot worked on. On July 7, 2016 the PASS Time game mode became official. Bad Robot released a trailer entitled "Stranger", rumoured to be Abrams' next film or television project, perhaps even a Lost spin-off, but it was finally explained to be promoting S., Abrams and Doug Dorst's new novel, as a new trailer for S. was released. In February 2017, it was announced Julius Avery is attached to direct a Paramount coproduction, the World War II zombie film Overlord, from screenwriter Billy Ray. Bad Robot Productions is currently based in Santa Monica, California, in a building which is incorrectly labeled on purpose as the home of the fictional "National Typewriter Company" because Abrams "likes typewriters — and misdirection." In June 2018, the company announced a spin-off venture formed with the Chinese video game publisherTencent to launch Bad Robot Games for the development of video games on mobile, computer and consoles, with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment as a minority investor. Bad Robot Games will develop and publish titles related to Abrams' works and other Bad Robot Production contents, with Tencent holding the rights for distribution in China. The division will be helmed by Dave Baronoff, who has worked on the Cloverfield franchise and in developing Spyjinx as a joint project between Bad Robot Productions and Epic Games, while Tim Keenan, who helped develop Duskers, will serve as the creative director. In 2006, Bad Robot teamed up with Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Television for a $60 million development deal that lasted through 2018. In late 2018, it was announced that Bad Robot was leaving Paramount and seeking a new overall deal. In January 2019, it was announced that Universal, Disney, and Warner Bros. were the top three studios battling it out for what could be a record breaking overall deal including theme parks, music labels, TV, merchandising, and streaming services as Bad Robot plans on ramping up production significantly in the coming years. It was also announced that Bad Robot would be co-producing a remake of the British series The Wrong Mans for American network Showtime along with BBC Studios, but Showtime later cancelled the project. Bad Robot launched a subsidiary record label called Loud Robot in late 2018, in partnership with Capitol Music Group. Loud Robot is headed by co-general managers McKee Floyd and Nicky Berger along with Charles Scott, who currently heads Bad Robot’s music division and has been the leading music supervisor for the company’s films. Artists signed to the label include Cleveland-born rapper Nnena, neo-soul singer/songwriter UMI, Nashville-based alternative artist Chaz Cardigan, and London-based R&B artist DWY. On September 12, 2019, Bad Robot officially announced a new five-year overall deal with WarnerMedia. According to The Hollywood Reporter, WarnerMedia agreed to pay Bad Robot at least $250 million to produce feature films, television shows, video games, and digital content.
