© Warner Bros. Discovery
Clément Schwebig (president of Warner Bros Discovery Western Europe & Africa), Véra Peltekian (vice-president of original productions Max France) and Clémentine Bobin (director of original fiction Max France) took advantage of the Séries Mania Festival, which is being held this week in Lille, to detail the French editorial line of Max (formerly HBO Max).
The opportunity to also give an overview of the French projects of the American streaming platform, the launch date of which in France will be announced tomorrow.
“Produce high-quality original works”
In France, the watchword of Warner Bros. Discovery regarding the original tricolor content of Max’s streaming platform is rather simple: offer ambitious, modern French productions and tell stories that the French public can identify with.
The platform, which will arrive “Soon” in France (probably at the end of June), will obviously offer a catalog filled with Warner Bros. content. and HBO which made the group’s reputation (Game Of Thrones, The White Lotus, Harry Potter, The Last of Us…), but it also intends to conquer the French market and satisfy an audience that it considers “demanding in terms of series.”
The greatest HBO hits will be found on Max. ©HBO
During the showcase at Séries Mania, Peltekian explained that Max France wanted to produce “original works of high quality which will be at the same time universal, singular and timeless.”
Vice-president of original productions Max France also specified that the emphasis would be placed on series intended “to return” (and not on mini-series) and that the stories told would be modern, in order to echo what the French experience today.
Max’s first French productions
Three first fiction projects for Max France were then detailed by Clémentine Bobin:
A devoted friend will arrive on Max in 2024. This is a four-episode mini-series which stars Laure Calamy (Ten percent), Arieh Worthalter (The Goldman trial), Annabelle Lengronne (A little brother), Alexis Manenti (Wretched), Ava Baya and Anne Benoît (I will always see your faces).
Laure Calamy in the series A devoted friend. © Rémy Grandroques
The story of this psychological thriller takes place in the aftermath of the Bataclan attacks of 2015. Christelle (Calamy), in shock like everyone else, “makes contact online with several direct or collateral victims. When the idea of creating a victims’ association takes shape, “Chris” becomes the cornerstone. But Christelle lives a lie.”
Inspired by a true story and freely adapted from the book The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan by Alexandre Kauffmann, this mini-series is produced by Just Philippot (The Cloud) with Fanny Burdino, Jean-Baptiste Delafon, Samuel Doux and Kauffmann writing.
Arieh Worthalter in A devoted friend. © Rémy Grandroques
Next will come the series Malditoscomposed of seven episodes and created by Jean Charles Hue (Eat your dead) and Olivier Prieur (The Crimson Rivers). This series, which takes place in the Camargue, was described by Bobin as a “criminal thriller with a modern western feel“.
The synopsis? In the South of France, the head of a gypsy community and her two sons fight to save their clan threatened with expulsion by rising waters. To survive, they will have to cross the limits of legality and fight in a dark and dangerous universe… while hiding the shameful secret that has haunted their family for seven years.
The series is currently in production, but a first image gives a glimpse of its atmosphere:
Finally, the Warner Bros. team. Discovery discussed a drama project based on the book by Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur Living with our dead. Noé Debré and Benjamin Charbit adapt this work by telling the story of Léa.
At 28 years old, she is “one of the rare female rabbis in France: frail shoulders, great responsibilities since she must find the answers in the labyrinth of small and big questions in people’s lives. But how can you be a guide for others when you yourself are struggling with the fundamentals of love, family and in search of meaning?
If the other two projects are in the 52-minute format, this one will be made up of eight 30-minute episodes.
“We do not want to imitate American fiction”, specified Peltekian at the end of the presentation at Séries Mania. “We first want to offer content that resonates with French audiences, and not wonder if it will find an audience abroad.” added Schwebig.
- Watch the trailer for Max programs in 2024:
It remains to be seen whether the French public will indeed be there.