''Cortés'' was a planned, but never made, American

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

miniseries created and written by

Steven Zaillian Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian (born January 30, 1953) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for his screenplay ''Schindler's List'' (1993) and has ...

and starring

Javier Bardem Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and foreign films, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopath, ...

. The series was set to premiere on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

before the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

hit, but was ultimately canceled in late 2020 before production resumed.

Premise

The four-episode series was to follow "the legendary conqueror,

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...

, who led a rebellious expedition to the heart of King

Moctezuma II Moctezuma Xocoyotzin ( – 29 June 1520; oteːkˈsoːmaḁ ʃoːkoˈjoːt͡sĩn̥), nci-IPA, Motēuczōmah Xōcoyōtzin, moteːkʷˈsoːma ʃoːkoˈjoːtsin variant spellings include Motewksomah, Motecuhzomatzin, Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecu ...

’s

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...

, connecting two civilizations for the first time and changing the course of history."

Cast and characters

Tenoch Huerta José Tenoch Huerta Mejía (; born 29 January 1981) is a Mexican actor. He has appeared in a number of movies in Latin America and Spain, starring in both feature films, short films, and '' Narcos: Mexico'', credited as Tenoch Huerta. He is fe ...

* Yoshira Escárrega as Malintzin / Marina * Gregory Zaragoza as Tlenamacac

Production

Development

In 1965, screenwriter

Dalton Trumbo James Dalton Trumbo (December 9, 1905 – September 10, 1976) was an American screenwriter who scripted many award-winning films, including ''Roman Holiday'' (1953), ''Exodus'', ''Spartacus'' (both 1960), and ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944) ...

finished a 205-page draft of a screenplay entitled ''Montezuma'', with a story centered around the complicated relationship between Spanish conquistador

and Aztec leader

. The film was written with intent of having

Martin Ritt Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater, noted for his socially conscious films. Some of the films he directed include ''The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958), '' The Black ...

direct and

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...

play the role of Cortés. The production ultimately never came together. In 2014, it was reported that

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

was considering directing ''Montezuma'' from a screenplay written by

based on the original script by Trumbo. It was further reported that the film might be retitled ''Cortes'' as the new screenplay featured him as the main character. On March 26, 2018, it was announced that the project had been redeveloped from a film into a television miniseries and that Amazon had given it an order for four episodes. The series was created and written by Steven Zaillian who is also set to executive produce alongside Spielberg, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, and

. On October 3, 2019, it was reported that

Ciro Guerra Ciro Guerra (born 6 February 1981) is a Colombian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his 2015 film ''Embrace of the Serpent'', the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards. Career He made hi ...

and Cristina Gallegos would direct the miniseries, while

Gael García Bernal Gael García Bernal (; born 30 November 1978) is a Mexican actor and producer. He is best known for his performances in the films '' Bad Education'', '' The Motorcycle Diaries'', '' Amores perros'', ''Y tu mamá también'', ''Babel'', '' Coco'', ...

and

Diego Luna Diego Dionisio Luna Alexander (; born 29 December 1979) is a Mexican actor, director, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Cassian Andor in '' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' and the Disney+ series ''Andor''. Following an early care ...

would executive produce. The series was to be filmed in Spanish, Nahuatl and Chontal Mayan, from scripts translated by David Bowles. However, in September 2020, Amazon decided to withdraw from its partnership with Amblin on the miniseries, effectively scrapping the project due to complications from the

Casting

Alongside the initial series announcement, it was confirmed that Javier Bardem, who was initially attached to the project when it was a feature film, had been cast in the lead role of Hernán Cortés. In February 2020, it was further announced that Tenoch Huerta will play Moctezuma II, Aztec Emperor, while Yoshira Escárrega takes on the role of Malintzin or Marina, the strategic partner, translator and consort of Hernán Cortés. Ammar Aldieri was to play the role of Tapeia. However, the project never got off the ground.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cortes Spanish-language television shows Amazon Prime Video original programming Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television shows based on American novels Television series set in the Pre-Columbian era Unaired television shows Television productions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Works by Steven Zaillian