Variety said the cable network won a bidding war against Apple for "Demimonde," which Abrams wrote and will executive produce.
The collaboration between Warner Bros. TV and Abrams' Bad Robot Productions will be about inhabitants of a world trying to survive a monstrous, oppressive force, Deadline.com said.
No casting has been announced yet.
HBO is already home to Bad Robot's "Westworld" and the upcoming "Lovecraft Country."
Abrams has also written and directed installments in the "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" film franchises.
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