HBO Picks Up French Limited Drama Series

HBO has acquired the North American television and streaming rights to the six-episode limited series Laetitia from France tv distribution.

Laetitia, directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (Murder on a Sunday Morning), is based on true events that took place in France in 2011—the disappearance and murder of 18-year-old Laetitia—and the best-selling book that followed in 2016 by Ivan Jablonka, Laëtitia ou la fin des hommes. It will debut on August 30 on HBO and HBO Max.

The series chronicles the investigation into Laetitia’s disappearance and the repercussions for her twin sister, Jessica. As investigators search to uncover the details behind Laetitia’s final days, the case casts a sharp eye on France’s legal system, police force, social services and how a single act of violence can impact an entire country.

“Behind Laetitia’s tragic murder, there was an unknown world, an abusive social environment with shattered individual destinies,” said de Lestrade. “This is a true story, and it starts with classic police work, an investigation about the disappearance of an 18-year-old girl. To me, it very quickly became an investigation about the life of that young woman, which is much more fascinating and something for which I feel a great deal of responsibility and humility in being able to tell. We have to remember Laetitia, not the way she died, but the way she lived.”

Laetitia stars Sophie Breyer (Raw) as Laetitia and Marie Colomb (Sunshine State of Mind) as her twin sister, Jessica. Others in the lead cast are Yannick Choirat (Victor Hugo, Last Love), Sam Karmann (True Enough), Alix Poisson (The Returned, The Collection), Kévin Azaïs (A Taste of Ink, Love at First Sight), Noam Morgensztern (Just Love!), Clotilde Mollet (The Intouchables), Cyril Descours (Paris, je t’aime) and Guillaume Marquet (Love Crime).

The series was written by de Lestrade and Antoine Lacomblez, executive produced by Jean Labib (CPB Films) and produced by Judith Louis and Christophe Louis (L’Ile Clavel). It was co-produced by France Télévisions, Be-Films/RTBF and Pictanovo.