USA Network Orders Braga’s “Queen Of The South” to Series

Alice Braga is ready to rule the USA Network…

The network has picked up its drama pilot Queen Of The South, starring the 32-year-old Brazilian actress, to series with a 13-episode order for a 2016 premiere.

Alice Braga

The pilot was developed and produced by Fox 21 Television Studios (then Fox Television Studios), which will now co-produce with Universal Cable Productions.

Based on best-selling book La Reina Del Sur by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Queen Of The South tells the story of Teresa Mendoza (Braga).

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 wrote the pilot. Charlotte Sieling directed the pilot.

“From script to inception, Queen Of The South had us hooked,” said USA Network president Chris McCumber. “Alice Braga does an outstanding job playing Teresa Mendoza, a determined woman who defies all odds, to not only survive, but to thrive in an unfamiliar world.”

This is not La Reina Del Sur‘s first television adaptation in the U.S. Telemundo aired a popular telenovela, which ran in 2011 to big ratings.