HBO Max is taking one of its most reliable U.S. formats and giving it a French address. At the La Rochelle Fiction Festival, the streamer said it is making Rush (working title), a Paris-set medical drama about mobile emergency teams responding to crises at street corners, in metro carriages, inside private homes and at landmarks. The pitch is urgency: every call is a crisis, every decision has consequences.
Why Rush matters for Max’s global plan
The show arrives after The Pitt reinforced its value in the U.S., winning more Emmys on Monday, including another lead-actor win for Noah Wyle, and moving toward a third season. HBO Max content boss Sarah Aubrey said in March that the company wanted to replicate that success internationally.
For this project, HBO Max has paired French creator Nils-Antoine Sambuc and co-writers Gaëlle Bellan, Maya Haffar and Maxime Crupeaux with Neal Baer, known for ER, as executive producer. That combination matters: it signals a blend of U.S. medical-drama mechanics and French creative authorship.
The slate is built on two familiar genres
HBO Max France also announced Bodycam, a thriller/horror in which two beat cops shoot an unarmed teenager, cover up the incident, and then discover the teenager has disappeared with one of their bodycams. The story escalates into attacks on the local police force and a missing officer.
Clémentine Bobin, director of original scripted production for HBO Max France, said the slate is built on ‘bold takes on familiar narratives and genres,’ not straight remakes.
- Rush: broad, returnable medical procedural with clear franchise potential.
- Bodycam: darker genre suspense aimed at viewers who want an edgier story.
- Existing French originals: Privilèges and Paolo launched this year, building a local library.
What media teams should watch
France is one of HBO Max’s most important markets outside the U.S., and the company has been investing in local commissions for several years. The economic argument for Rush is straightforward: familiar genres lower concept risk, while a local setting and voice create differentiation. If it works, Italy could be the next test—Aubrey previously indicated an Italian medical drama was also in development, though no details have been announced.
For media planners and entertainment marketers, the lesson is not simply that medical dramas travel. The more useful signal is that Max is selling local originals as familiar but specific—a positioning that needs casting, talent and campaign creative to emphasize the Paris detail, not just the emergency-room template.
Source: Deadline
