HBO Max lines up Sofia Helin sex comedy

The cast of Lust (LR) Anja Lundqvist, Elin Klinga, Sofia Helin and Julia Dufvenius

US-based streamer HBO Max has greenlight a Swedish comedy series about sex and ageing starring The Bridge’s Sofia Helin ahead of the streamer’s launch in the country later this year.

Production is underway on Lust (8×30′), which is described as an outrageous and painfully honest comedy about four middle-ish-aged women in Stockholm struggling to keep their libidos alive in a sexually frustrating world.

Anja Lundqvist, Julia Dufvenius and Elin Klinga star alongside Helin, who plays a character conducting a government survey about sex and the health of Swedish women over 40. Fremantle-owned Miso Film Sweden is producing.

The series is directed by Ella Lemhagen, produced by Sandra Harms and Karl Fredrik Ulfung and written by Frans Milisic Wiklund. It was based on an idea and in collaboration with Åsa Kalmér, Dufvenius, Helin and Lundqvist.

The executive producers for HBO Max are Camilla Curtis and Christian Wikander, the former head of drama at Swedish pubcaster SVT who joined WarnerMedia last year to oversee its original programming in the Nordics.

Helin previously discussed working with Miso Film on a comedy drama about women’s sexuality and ageing in 2017 at Content London.

Meanwhile, Helin, Dufvenius and Lundqvist have previously worked together on eight-part drama Honour (Heder) for Viaplay.

Wikander recently told C21’s Content Nordics On Demand event that HBO Nordic is calling for fresh, diverse voices and talent as it hunts for stand-out storytelling across its originals slate ahead of HBO Max’s launch into parts of Europe later this year.

Sandra Harms, producer at Miso Film, said: “Lust is a series about female sexuality that makes you laugh, touches you, entertains you but also shines a light on the times we live in. This project has been completely obvious to do from the day the idea was presented. A real dream project.”

Wikander said: “Lust represents our ambition with HBO Max to bring together brilliant creators and talent, on- and off-screen, to craft truly special series that offer our audiences something different. Firmly rooted in Sweden but centred around universal themes like sex, relationships and getting older, there is great potential for it to resonate globally too.”