A thriller series named after the protagonist of the famous German children’s books, The Struwwelpeter: he inspires the serial killer to punish the inhabitants of a small German town with murder. Penned by the creators of Dark, it is one of the new HBO Max productions expected for 2027: it was announced today, March 24, by Sarah Aubrey, Head of Original Programming at HBO Max, at the Series Mania Forum.
“We worked extensively on the female character, who is one of the series’ strengths, along with the setting in this economically depressed town where she and her family live. These ingredients bring to mind the flavor of Mare of Easttown,” says Aubrey, who, since her arrival at HBO, has increased the budget dedicated to project development. The watchword: no rush and no pressure on the authors: “If something we have developed does not go into production, we do not necessarily consider it a failure; in fact, we prefer it over forcing something premature, for example. We want to give authors the time and opportunity to work on multiple scripts simultaneously, investing precisely in the first phase of development.” This strategy is also supported by the “fortune of being able to count on great international shows, which eases the pressure of having to produce local series that must necessarily work on a global level. Every series has its own initial target audience, which can then obviously expand.”
Her past as a producer also helps build fruitful relationships with producers, “whose contribution is invaluable,” adds Aubrey, announcing the signing of a production agreement with Domingo Corral, whose work at Movistar (which he left a year ago, Ed.), Aubrey continues, “speaks for itself: just think of recent successes such as Sundays (Los Domingos); Sirat; The Anatomy of a Moment (Anatomía de un Instante), currently in the International Competition at Series Mania; Querer, last year’s winner…”
The agreement has already come to life with the development of a series based on a true story from the 1980s, about the disappearance of El Nani, a petty thief who, after being wrongly arrested for a robbery, vanished, becoming the first missing person in the new democratic Spain.” Among the next highly anticipated arrivals on HBO Max, also in Spain, is the second season of Furia (Rage), with the new entry of Carmen Maura joining the group of middle-aged women.
And the Italian series on the Melania Rea case: “I don’t like true crimes that focus only on the murderer: in this case, instead, we get to know the beauty of this woman before her murder, and we focus on how this reflects on the country’s culture.” The series, starring Maria Esposito and Daniele Rienzo and directed by Stefano Mordini, is written by Doriana Leondeff, Bianca Rondolino, Gloria Mottarelli, and Mariano Di Nardo. It is produced by Stand by Me.
