French rape victim Gisèle Pelicot’s book to be adapted by HBO?

Gisèle Pelicot, who has become a feminist icon worldwide for her outspoken stance during her ex-husband’s trial for raping her and inviting strangers to rape her while drugged, will release her memoir next year.  

“A Hymn to Life” will be published in 20 languages on 27 January 2026, stated British publisher the Bodley Head, which is owned by the Penguin group, last month.  

Now, there have been reports that the Pelicot’s book will be adapted to the screen, courtesy of HBO.  

According to French publication Paris Match, there have been meetings between Pelicot and the streaming company owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.  

As Le Figaro reported last February, HBO and its streaming platform Max were engaged in a bidding war with Netflix over the rights to adapt Pelicot’s book.  

The exact format and release date of the rumoured HBO treatment is still unknown. It could be a documentary – much like the one Max already released, titled L’Affaire Pelicot. Un procès pour l’histoire (L’Affaire Pelicot. A trial for history) – a feature-length fictional treatment or even a multi-episode series.  

Paris Match reports that there are cameras present on Île de Ré, an island off the west coast of France where Pelicot resides since end of her husband’s trial last December. This could indicate that the format will be a documentary – or that there will be a documentary component.

“I am immensely grateful for the extraordinary support I have received since the beginning of the trial. I now want to tell my story in my own words,” Pelicot said in a press release announcing the book, which will be written in collaboration with journalist and writer Judith Perrignon. 

“Through this book, I hope to convey a message of strength and courage to all those who are subjected to difficult ordeals. May they never feel shame. And in time, may they even learn to savor life again and find peace.” 

Pelicot, 72, won international acclaim last year for her courage during the trial of her former husband, Dominique Pelicot. She had insisted that the trial be held in public and waived her right to anonymity, and in doing so became a symbol of the fight against sexual violence and ignited a national reckoning about the blight of rape culture. She was named one of TIME magazine’s Women of the Year last year.

A court in the southern French city of Avignon in December sentenced Dominique Pelicot to 20 years for drugging and raping her and inviting dozens of men to do the same for almost a decade. His 50 co-defendants were also found guilty and handed various sentences of between three and 15 years.

The evidence presented during the shocking case included stomach-churning homemade videos of the abuse that Dominique Pelicot filmed in the couple’s retirement home in the small Provence town of Mazan and elsewhere. 

Their daughter, Caroline Darian, published her own memoir, “I’ll Never Call Him Dad Again”, in December and plans to publish a book about victims of sexual abuse. She has filed a sex abuse case against her father, who denies abusing her.