Sambre Lands in U.S. on MHz Choice
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- MHz Choice acquired U.S. rights to Jean-Xavier De Lestrade’s six-episode limited series Sambre, with plans to launch it on September 15.
- Sambre broke viewership records on France 2, drawing over 4 million viewers per episode, 3 million online views, and nearly 6 million video-on-demand plays.
- Jean-Xavier De Lestrade, Oscar-winning director of Murder on a Sunday Morning and creator of The Staircase, executive produces the series, bringing his true-crime expertise to the project.
- Federation Studios sold the series to multiple international outlets, including the BBC and HBO Max in Europe, ahead of its U.S. debut.
- Alix Poisson, Clémence Poesy, Olivier Gourmet, Noémie Lvovsky, Jonathan Turnbull, and Pauline Parigot star in Sambre, which is based on Alice Géraud’s book and co-created by Géraud and Marc Herpoux.
- Sambre is set along the Sambre River in Northern France in the late 1980s, following an investigation into serial sexual assaults with narrative threads extending to 2018 and the #MeToo era.
Why it matters: Sambre’s U.S. pickup by MHz Choice gives American audiences access to a record-breaking, critically acclaimed French series that bridges true crime and social reckoning, expanding the reach of non-English-language prestige drama at a time when international content is increasingly central to streaming differentiation. The 4 million+ viewership in France signals strong proven demand, reducing perceived risk for U.S. distributors.
