Paris (France) (AFP) – A climatic dystopia, utopias and some essential literary adaptations, from John Steinbeck to Gaston Leroux, animate the start of the 2026 series, of which here is a non-exhaustive selection limited to new creations.

Published on: 01/09/2026 - 09:21

- Dystopia on climate, and return of “Carrie”

Just in time after a scorching summer, the German production “City of Blood” (September 16, Disney+) plunges us into a futuristic Berlin, where a handful of privileged people live under an air-conditioned dome, while the people struggle in chaos. But in this series inspired by the graphic novel “Berlinoir”, it is from bloodthirsty vampires that the danger comes for Bea (Lea Drinda) and Phoebe (Soma Pysall), two sisters separated during their childhood.

Thrill seekers will have a double ration with "Carrie", a new adaptation of Stephen King's first novel (October 7, Prime Video) by Mike Flanagan, before a prequel to Friday the 13th, "Crystal Lake", promised by HBO Max before the end of the year.

- “Paolo”, atypical and disturbing

Difficult to classify “Paolo”, a French series offered by HBO Max (September 25), the latest work by a specialist in psychological thrillers, the novelist and filmmaker Sébastien Marnier, already behind the films “Irréprochable”, “The Origin of Evil” and the adaptation of “Children Are Kings” by Delphine de Vigan for Disney+. The fiction follows Paolo (Jérôme Niel), an uneventful boy who falls into an obsessive and toxic drift for a former school friend, the ambitious Téophane Tolbiac (Yoann Gasiorowski), in the middle of the campaign to capture the town hall of a provincial town. The tone is set from the first episode, when an outburst of blind violence falls on a character played by Philippe Katerine.

- Comedy side, prison and fictional doubles

Can we laugh when the story takes place behind bars? This is the bet attempted by “Surveillants!” (Disney+, September 16), which strives to present the prison with derision and humor. The series is by John Wax, with Jean-Pascal Zadi, Audrey Lamy and Eva Huault.

Prime Video bet on Paul Mirabel, the comedian who made his shyness a trademark. In “Paul” (October 2), he plays his own role, in the midst of disaster preparation for his next show.

Another scenario where stars play their fictional version: “Brothers”, written by Lee Eisenberg, brings together Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Everything changes for the duo of the first “True Detective”, when the two friends discover that they could be brothers.

- On Arte, long live utopias

“The 70s are the wallpaper of our present,” thinks Benjamin Charbit, one of the creators of “Comarades”, a half-archive, half-fiction series, which delves into the post-sixty-eight turmoil at Vincennes University. A utopian experience of a free university which fizzled out, but where the question of the two lefts was already emerging, and which saw the birth of the Women's Liberation Movement (MLF).

The series will be followed in November, still on Arte, by another revisited utopia, "Eldorado": or the incredible story of sniffer planes, supposedly technology capable of detecting oil which turned out to be a gigantic scam for Elf Aquitaine.

- On Netflix, Zoe Kazan at the helm for “East of Eden”

Seventy years after the film directed by Elia Kazan, it is to her granddaughter Zoe Kazan that Netflix has entrusted a new adaptation of the eponymous book by John Steinbeck. While the film with James Dean only told part of the book, Zoe Kazan promised to more faithfully adapt the saga of the Trask and Hamilton families, with Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott and Mike Faist in the main roles (October 1).

- Waiting for Lupine

Before the return of Omar Sy in season 4 of Lupine (October 23, Netflix), fans will be able to wait with "The Mystery of the Yellow Room", a very free and contemporary adaptation of Gaston Leroux's first thriller at the beginning of the 20th century. The famous Rouletabille is recreated in a feminine way, and leads the investigation with a successful podcaster. Launch this Thursday, on TF1, TF1+ and on Netflix, where the channel's content now lands.

In the same vein, “Ceci n’est pas un crime”, a Belgian mini-series announced for September on Canal+, imagines a young René Magritte suspected of murder after an evening with other figures of surrealism, Salvador Dali, Lee Miller or Man Ray.

© 2026 AFP

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