J. J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Will be Closing Its Los Angeles Office and Moving to New York

Item: J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot Will be Closing Its Los Angeles Office and Moving to New York
Author: Nobuhiro Hosoki

by Nobuhiro Hosoki

©Courtesy of Bad Robot

Bad Robot is moving towards a new phase in its history. J.J. Abrams’ production company is scaling down its operations and reorganizing as it closes its Los Angeles office and relocates to New York, where Abrams now resides.

The move is a result of the company’s decision to sell their longtime Santa Monica headquarters for $31 million in November and the recent loss of employees. During its height, the Bad Robot building employed a lot of workers, including those from Kelvin Optical, its in-house visual effects company.

The company, established in 1999, has produced numerous hits, beginning with 2001’s “Alias” and later adding 2004’s “Lost“, 2008’s “Fringe“, 2011’s “Person of Interest“, and 2016’s “Westworld” on the television front.

The company’s movie division had its initial achievement with 2001’s “Joy Ride“, which was then followed by “Cloverfield” in 2008 and the “Star Trek” reboot directed by Abrams in 2009. After Abrams directed the third “Mission: Impossible” movie in 2006, the company became co-producers for the next three M:I movies. Bad Robot produced “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker“, both blockbusters, when Abrams assumed control of Star Wars for Lucasfilm.

It’s been a while since Bad Robot has achieved much mainstream success. The beginning of the company was at Touchstone Television. After a string of high-profile genre hits in 2019, Warner Media prevailed in a bidding war for a five-year film and TV deal with Bad Robot, which was worth $250 million. The deal was extended for two more years in 2024, but it became a non-exclusive, first-look agreement.

Bad Robot has several upcoming projects that are yet to be released. “The Great Beyond“, directed by Abrams, will be released on Nov. 13, and the high-concept dinosaur film “The End of Oak Street” will be arriving on Aug. 16, both from Warner Bros. It is also a part of the production of the 2028 Dr. Seuss adaptation “Oh, the Places You’ll Go“, which will be directed by Jon M. Chu and Jill Culton.