EXCLUSIVE: Scalpel, please: HBO Max is developing medical dramas in France and Spain, and it’s taking creative cues from The Pitt for the procedure.
Sarah Aubrey, HBO Max’s Head of Original Programming, revealed the news to Deadline in an interview today at Series Mania in Lille, France. There were no specific details of either series, but they’re both “on the runway” and their development offers insight into the HBO Max international playbook.
Aubrey has previously talked about the desire to find international series akin to John Wells, R. Scott Gemmill and Noah Wyle drama The Pitt, and today fleshed out how the flagship HBO Max series was helping shape the wider international originals strategy. Specifically, it was the creators’ desire to make the show that drove the development process, she added.
“To me that’s the model to emulate: Take a genre and a set of characters audiences feel very familiar with and want in their homes every week, and overlay that with a creator who is really excited to tell a specific story authentically. Then you get something special that is also popular.
She revealed the HBO Max medical shows in Europe were in the works “before to The Pitt,” saying: “We have shows in development in Italy and France that are set in and around hospitals. They’re on the runway, but there’s nothing to report yet.”
The Pitt, which recently launched its second season, won three Emmys, including Outstanding Drama, after launching in 2025. A third season has been ordered, with the second debuting in January this year. The show comes from John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television. Gemmill exec produces alongside Wyle, John Wells, Erin Jontow, Joe Sachs, Simran Baidwan and Michael Hissrich.
Aubrey had called for international procedurals akin to The Pitt during an appearance at Content London at the backend of 2025. She further explained her strategy today to Deadline.
“What I meant by that was The Pitt has really hit the bullseye in terms of being a really commercial show with complicated, interesting characters, but in a relatable job. They are frankly heroes in a world where we need more heroes.
“We know the hospital genre is a staple that provides very good stakes and complications, but the overlap of those two things is it wasn’t that we said we wanted a medical show, but John, Noah and Scott came to us and said they want to tell a medical story… I know that’s subtle, but the difference between us saying, ‘Who’s got a medical show?’ and a creative coming in and saying it’s an important story they want to tell that’s set in a hospital [is significant].”
Series Mania announcements
Speaking today at Series Mania talk, Aubrey pointed to various shows that broken out locally, such as telenovela Scars of Beauty, Polish drama Eastern Gate and Italian drama Portobello.
She also unveiled a first-look deal with former Movistar content chief Domingo Corral, and revealed first looks at an upcoming German crime series based around the Struwwelpeter books and Poland-originated Proud, which launches this this June and tells the story of Filip, a reckless young gay man who finds that an unexpected family tragedy shatters his reality.
Anne Wilk for HBO Max
The Struwwelpeter series, as its currently being called internally, is being made by Dark co-creators Jantje Friese and Baran Bo Odar and their Dark Ways production banner.
Matija Dragojević is the creator and writer along with co-head writer Bob Konrad. Based on the dark 19th century German children’s book, the thriller follows the hunt for a killer who uses the book as inspiration for their murders. Lennart Ruff is the director.
Filming is currently underway in Berlin, Brandenburg, and Saxony-Anhalt, with Lisa Vicari, who was in Dark and the recent second season of Apple TV’s Hijack starring as Anja Vogler and Peter Kurth (Babylon Berlin) as detective Norbert Troschitz. Recurring roles include Jan Friedrichsen as Anja’s son Max, Iris Böhm as Anja’s mother Kerstin, Merlin Rose, Maria Simon, Mišel Matičević and Stipe Erceg. The Series Mania audience saw a short trailer for the show.
Anke Greifeneder, VP Original Production for HBO Max in GSE and France and an exec producer on the show, said: “The stories of Struwwelpeter have unsettled generations of children far beyond Germany’s borders. In our series they become a brutal reality. It’s not just a gripping thriller – it allows us to explore existential themes: punishment and forgiveness, responsibility, and the question of what makes us good parents, good people.”
Friese and Odar added in a statement: “When Matija Dragojević first presented us with his idea for a serial killer show inspired by the Struwwelpeter tales, we were immediately captivated. What struck us most was the way he uses the genre to explore something profoundly intimate: the fragile relationship between being raised and being a parent.”
HBO Max’s Future With Paramount
Deadline also quizzed Aubrey on HBO Max’s potential future merged with Paramount+, following the news of Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison’s plan. She declined to comment directly, but addressed the
“David Ellison has articulated a real commitment to supporting specifically HBO, but frankly all the content,” she said. “If you look at the number of movies he’s committing to make. They are in this business for the long haul and to make things, and they have said that over and over again, and so I take them at their word. I’m excited to feel that energy underneath us as a company.”