J.J. Abrams just ended his seven-year directorial absence in the most J.J. Abrams way possible, with a mysterious trailer full of retro technology, alternate worlds, and an H.G. Wells quote that tells you everything and nothing at the same time. Abrams took the stage at the Warner Bros. CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas on Tuesday to unveil the first trailer for The Great Beyond, a sci-fi fantasy film he wrote, directed, and produced through his Bad Robot banner.
J.J. Abrams debuts first footage at CinemaCon
It marks his return to directing after a seven-year gap and his first original story in considerably longer than that. Speaking on stage before the footage rolled, Abrams explained why the project felt necessary after years of franchise work.
“I’ve been very lucky to get to work on franchises and movies that are bigger than all of us, and that was great. But at a certain point, I really felt like I needed to get back to telling original stories, which is where I started. It’s the thing that I am most passionate about,” he said.
“The seed of this idea came to me years ago, and it took a long time to write it, partly because of extensive world-building.” The trailer itself keeps plot details closely guarded.
It opens with an H.G. Wells quote, “There is, though I do not know how there is or how it may be, another world out of sight and sound,” before cutting to scenes of retro machines and computers booting up, glimpses of a mysterious alternate world, and brief interaction between the two leads.
A voiceover from Ortega sets the emotional core of the film. “People like us, I think we’re looking for something—something pure, something we can’t find here,” she says. The trailer ends on an ominous shot of someone turning a key.
Abrams described the film as a love story with genre-bending elements. “I wanted it to be thrilling and moving,” he said.
“It’s about a lot, but at the heart of the movie, it’s about reconnecting with that sense of wonder and possibility that we had when we were kids, which I think a lot of people over time get beaten out of them and lose. It’s about protecting that belief in yourself.“
Alongside Powell and Ortega, the cast includes Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Merritt Wever, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film was shot in Scotland under the working title Ghostwriter.
The Great Beyond is set for a wide theatrical and IMAX release on November 13, 2026, where it will go head-to-head with Ti West’s Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol.
