Trying her hand at producing content for streaming services, multitalented Mexican star Salma Hayek is joining forces with Netflix through her Ventanarosaproduction company to create a new Spanish-language series set in Mexico.
The new venture entitled Monarca, which begins shooting this fall and is expected to premiere worldwide in 2019, is set in the world of powerful millionaires – where intrigue and mistrust rule.
At the center of this gripping saga is a business empire that revolves around tequila run by a family that has succeeded through questionable practices. However, one of its members is determined to go against the system in place, thus drama ensues.
“I’m extremely excited to partner with Netflix, and to be working with amazing Mexican talent in front of and behind the camera,” said Hayek via an official press release. The actress and producer also expressed her enthusiasm for portraying her homeland in a new light that disputes the common image of Mexico in mainstream United States media. “We are proud to show Mexico as a vibrant, sophisticated, and culturally rich nation, and one which fights to control its own destiny.”
Created by Diego Gutiérrez – who recently wrote and produced multiple episodes of El Rey’s From Dusk Till Dawn – Netflix’s Monarca will star Irene Azuela, an actress who’s had a prominent career in Mexican film and television and also appeared on Sense8; and Juan Manuel Bernal, who shared the screen with Hayek back in the early ‘90s in El callejón de los Milagros (Midaq Alley).
Two other production houses are also part of the effort to bring this episodic project to a global audience: Lemon Studios, a company behind multiple features including Michel Franco’s Cannes-winning Después de Lucia (After Lucia); and Stearns Castle, an American outfit specialized in television whose titles include ABC’s American Crime.
With pre-production underway, more details about the plot and other casting decisions should emerge soon. Let’s hope Salma gets the itch to be part of it in front of the camera even if only for a cameo.
Monarca is expected to debut on Netflix in 2019.