'Lost,' 'M:I-III' auteur leaves Disney

LOS ANGELES -- J.J. Abrams, who helped revive ABC's fortunes with "Lost" and has two other shows on the network this fall, is severing his ties with the net's sister studio, Touchstone TV, and moving on to greener pastures.

And by greener, we mean "a great deal of money." Abrams has signed separate deals with Warner Bros. TV and Paramount Pictures to develop projects under his Bad Robot banner. The new deals kick in Aug. 1, at which point Abrams will end a relationship with Touchstone that goes back almost a decade.

According to the showbiz trade papers, the deals will be worth a combined total of close to $60 million: $22.5 million over five years from Paramount -- for which Abrams directed "Mission: Impossible III" and about $35 million from Warner Bros. TV between now and 2012.

The three shows Bad Robot has on ABC's schedule for 2006-07 -- "Lost," "What About Brian" and the new drama "Six Degrees" -- will still be produced by Touchstone, and Abrams will continue to serve as executive producer of all three. Any future TV projects, though, will come through Warner Bros.

Bad Robot's movie deal wasn't all that unexpected -- Paramount was happy with how "M:I-III" came out, and it's made $133 million so far -- and the studio has been wooing him for a while. The move from Touchstone TV to Warner Bros. TV, though, was a bit of a surprise.

Late last week, it appeared that Abrams would re-sign with Touchstone. Warner Bros., however, stepped in at the 11th hour and lured Bad Robot away. The deal was finalized early Friday morning, with Paramount and Abrams finalizing their agreement later in the day.