Gabrielle Union nears star deal for HBO Max’s Debbie

Gabrielle Union is in discussions to headline HBO Max’s upcoming legal drama procedural, Debbie, executive produced by Union and co-created by The Fosters co-creator Bradley Bredeweg and Matthew Thomas. HBO Max is building its slate of recurring procedural ser

The first thing people will remember about Debbie Powell isn’t the courtroom—it’s the moment her “spectacular public downfall” forced her out of it.

Now. HBO Max is moving closer to turning that kind of comeback story into its next repeatable legal drama procedural. with Gabrielle Union in talks to star in Debbie. Union will also serve as an executive producer through her I’ll Have Another. joining Bradley Bredeweg and Matthew Thomas. who are both executive producing and writing the series.

Debbie is described as an elevated legal drama procedural that explores the cost of reinvention and the fine line between justice and survival. The series centers on Debbie Powell, a once-feared attorney whose fall becomes the pivot point of her life. In the show’s premise. she must rebuild her life and career as a public defender. relying on the skills. connections. and relentless drive that once made her “one of Atlanta’s most formidable lawyers.” The work becomes personal and urgent “one explosive case at a time. ” aimed at fighting for people the system has left behind.

That focus on procedural momentum—while keeping the emotional stakes tight—fits into HBO Max’s broader push for classic genre series that can return each year. The streamer’s drama model was introduced by the Emmy-winning medical drama The Pitt, which produces 15 episodes a year. The Pitt is positioned as one of three classic lanes for the streamer’s recurring procedural approach: cop. doctor. and lawyer.

On the cop side, HBO Max has pilot American Blue and is developing David E. Kelley’s police drama Welcome To Catalina, based on Michael Connelly’s novel Nightshade. Debbie is intended to complement that legal lane, with HBO Max also developing a family drama pilot titled How To Survive Without Me.

Union’s involvement comes at a busy moment for her career. She recently starred in the comedy horror movie Forbidden Fruits and the animated Goat, and she is next set to be seen in The Casket Girls.

For Union’s creative partners. Bredeweg—who co-created and executive produced Freeform’s The Fosters and its spinoff Good Trouble—executes his role on Debbie alongside Thomas. Thomas is executive producing and writing the series with Bredeweg. and the project also includes Jenny Frankfurt as an executive producer.

The business side of the project is already taking shape through industry representation: Union is repped by CAA. Range Media Partners. and Felker McGinnis & Ryan. Bredeweg is repped by UTA, 42, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman, while Thomas is repped by Artists First and attorney Mark Temple. Frankfurt is repped by Gregg Gellman at Yorn Levine.

Debbie may still be “now in development. ” but the intent is clear: HBO Max wants a legal procedural that can keep coming back—each season with its own pressure-cooker cases—while building around a lead character who doesn’t simply return to the spotlight. She rebuilds it, publicly, after everything goes wrong.

Gabrielle Union Debbie HBO Max legal drama procedural series Bradley Bredeweg Matthew Thomas The Pitt The Fosters Good Trouble I’ll Have Another