He also directed, co-produced, and co-wrote The Force Awakens, the seventh episode of the Star Wars Skywalker Saga and the first film of the sequel trilogy.

[2] Abrams' frequent collaborators include producer Bryan Burk; producer/directors Damon Lindelof and Tommy Gormley; actors Greg Grunberg, Simon Pegg, Amanda Foreman, and Keri Russell; composer Michael Giacchino; writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, cinematographers Daniel Mindel and Larry Fong; and editors Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey.

[5][6] Purchased by Touchstone Pictures, the treatment was the basis for Taking Care of Business, Abrams' first produced film, which starred Charles Grodin and James Belushi and was directed by Academy Award winner Arthur Hiller.

In 1994, he was part of the "Propellerheads" with Rob Letterman, Loren Soman, and Andy Waisler, a group of Sarah Lawrence alums experimenting with computer animation technology.

That same year, he made his first foray into television with Felicity, which ran for four seasons on The WB Network, serving as the series' co-creator (with Matt Reeves) and executive producer.

Under his production company, Bad Robot, which he founded with Bryan Burk in 2001,[8] Abrams created and executive-produced ABC's Alias and is co-creator (along with Damon Lindelof and Jeffrey Lieber) and was executive producer of Lost.

He also co-wrote the teleplay for Lost's third-season premiere "A Tale of Two Cities" and the same year, he made his feature directorial debut with Mission: Impossible III, starring Tom Cruise.

While it was speculated that they would be writing and producing an adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series of novels, they publicly stated in November 2009 that they were no longer looking to take on that project.

[13] In 2008, Abrams co-created, executive produced, and co-wrote (along with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman) the FOX science fiction series Fringe, for which he also composed the theme music.

He was featured in the 2009 MTV Movie Awards 1980s-style digital short "Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions", with Andy Samberg and Will Ferrell, in which he plays a keyboard solo.

Abrams wrote and directed the Paramount science fiction thriller Super 8, starring Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning, while co-producing with Steven Spielberg and Bryan Burk; it was released on June 10, 2011.

... [The script] was a little bit of a collection of scenes that were written by my friends ... And yet, I found myself frustrated by my choices, and unable to hang my hat on an undeniable thread of the main story.

[22] Following this news, speculation arose as to Abrams's future with Paramount Pictures, under which he had released all of his previous feature work as a director, and which had a first-look deal with his company, Bad Robot.

Paramount vice-chairman Rob Moore stated that Abrams would continue to have a hand in the Star Trek and Mission: Impossible franchises going forward.

[27][28] In 2016, Abrams responded towards these complaints, stating: "What was important for me was introducing brand new characters using relationships that were embracing the history that we know to tell a story that is new — to go backwards to go forwards".

[31][32] Also on 2018, Abrams produced Overlord, a horror film set behind German enemy lines in World War II and directed by Julius Avery.

[38][39] In September 2019, Abrams and his Bad Robot company signed a $250 million five-year deal with WarnerMedia, including HBO and Warner Bros.

[45] On May 8, 2024, it was announced that Abrams would write and direct an untitled new film, with Glen Powell in early talks to star in the project with Bad Robot signing on as the production company.

[46][47] The company's five-year deal with Warner Bros. was also extended in August 2024, although it was expected to be less expensive than the previous agreement with future projects having significant budget cuts.

[64] In 2019, Abrams made his debut as a writer for Marvel Comics, co-authoring the company's title Spider-Man from September of that year with his son Henry.

[71] Abrams serves on the Creative Council of Represent.Us, a nonpartisan anti-corruption organization[72] and the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) Board of Governors.