The project is an English-language adaptation of Telemundo’s blockbuster 2011 telenovela La Reina Del Sur, starring Kate del Castillo.
Based on the best-selling book by Arturo Perez-Reverte, Queen Of The South centers on Teresa Mendoza (Braga), who’s forced to go on the run when her drug-dealing boyfriend is unexpectedly murdered in Mexico. She seeks refuge in America, where she teams with an unlikely figure from her past to bring down the leader of the very drug trafficking ring that has her on the run. In the process, she learns the tools of the trade and strategically positions herself to become the leader of the cartel.
Madera will portray violent cartel henchman Pote Galvez.
His previous credits include appearances on Weeds, New Girl, The New Normal, Burn Notice, Luck and My Name is Earl.
Telemundo’s La Reina del Sur is about to get an English-language makeover…
The USA Network has given a pilot order to The Queen of the South, an English-language adaptation of the blockbuster 2011 telenovela starring Kate del Castillo.
Frequent USA collaborator Fox Television Studios (White Collar, Graceland) is set to produce the project. In his television debut, feature producer David T. Friendly (Little Miss Sunshine), who brought the project to the studio, is executive producing.
Based on the best-selling book of the same by Arturo Perez-Reverte, Queen of the South is a serialized crime drama that centers on Teresa Mendoza. When her drug-dealing boyfriend is unexpectedly murdered in Mexico, Teresa is forced to go on the run and seek refuge in America, where she teams with an unlikely figure from her past to bring down the leader of the very drug trafficking ring that has her on the run. In the process, she learns the tools of the trade and strategically positions herself to become the leader of the cartel.
M.A. Fortin and Joshua John Miller (The Final Girls) wrote the script and will also executive produce the series with Pancho Mansfield.
La Reina Del Sur is not a typical telenovela, with critics noting that is feels closer to Breaking Bad than One Life To Live, and Telemundo giving it a major Emmy campaign. It was Telemundo’s most expensive telenovela ever with a budget of $10 million and became the highest-rated program in the Spanish-language network’s 19-year history, averaging nearly 4.2 million total viewers and more than 2.8 million viewers adults 18-49. Its May 30, 2011 series finale was the No. 1 broadcast program of the night, of any language.
Queen of the South joins USA’s other pilotsStanistan, Mr. Robot and Colony.
It’s no surprise that Kate del Castillo will be returning to her throne at Telemundo in the near future…
The network has announced that producers are in the early stages of pre-production on a sequel to Telemundo’s hit telenovela, La Reina del Sur.
Based on a novel of the same name by Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte, the drama tells the story of the rise of Teresa Mendoza (played by del Castillo), a young woman from Mexico who becomes the most powerful drug trafficker in southern Spain.
The first episode of La Reina del Sur, which aired on February 28, 2011, attracted 2.4 million viewers, making it the most viewed premiere for any telenovela on the network. Over the course of its run, the telenovela frequently dominated it’s time slot for broadcast television among the 18-34 age demographic. And the final episode, broadcast on May 30, 2011, was Telemundo’s highest rated broadcast in its 19-year history, attracting nearly 4.2 million viewers and dominating its time slot among the 18-49 demographic, beating out the English language networks.
Despite del Castillo’s recent deal with rival Univision to produce and star in webnovelas for the network, Telemundo has confirmed that del Castillo will reprise her role.
Telemundo’s La Reina del Sur may be getting an English-language makeover…
Fox Television Studios is developing an adaptation of last year’s blockbuster telenovela.
Based on Arturo Perez-Reverte’s bestselling book of the same La Reina del Sur, the telenovela centers on Teresa Mendoza (Kate del Castillo), an innocent young girl from a small Mexican village, whose desire to avenge a personal tragedy leads her to become the most powerful woman in the dangerous world of drug trafficking in Europe.
La Reina Del Sur was Telemundo’s most expensive telenovela ever with a budget of $10 million and became the highest-rated program in the network’s 19-year history, averaging nearly 4.2 million viewers, and more than 2.8 million viewers in the prized Adults 18-49 demographic. In addition, the telenovela’s series finale on May 30, 2011 was the No.1 broadcast program of the night, of any language. Telemundo even launched its first-ever Primetime Emmys campaign for La Reina Del Sur.
La Reina Del Sur isn’t considered a typical telenovela, with critics noting that is feels more like Breaking Bad than One Life to Live. With that in mind, Fox’s English-language adaptation will be developed as a one-hour largely serialized crime drama, said Fox Television Studios president David Madden. He describes it as being “darker, more violent than ABC’sMissing or Revenge.”
Fox Television Studios, primarily a cable player with series like Burn Notice and The Killing, plans to aim La Reina Del Sur at cable networks. “I could see it run on Showtime or FX, but I can also see an ABC version of the show,” said Madden.
The La Reina Del Sur deal “came out of Fox Television Studios’ efforts to find more material out of Spanish-speaking countries and produce more content for Spanish-speaking audiences,” said Madden. It’s part of a larger strategy of targeting Latino audiences by News Corp., which recently announced that it will be launching a Spanish-language broadcast TV network.
