USA Network has officially announced the holy matrimony of two of American media’s most unfortunate bad habits. The rehashing of international television series will wed the unapologetic stereotyping of Latin America in a small, extended-cable ceremony later this year. Of course, none of this means that the show will be particularly good or bad, but it is a show about Mexican narcos ripped off of the wildly successful Telemundo narco-novela La reina del sur.
You may have already caught wind of the 2011 Spanish-language smash hit that famously brought Kate Del Castillo into the mushy heart of El Chapo Guzmán. After the 63-episode series premiered on Telemundo to record ratings, La reina del sur made its way over to Mexico’s Gala TV where it trounced novelas from big-two networks Televisa and TV Azteca, going on to become one of the most successful non-Mexican series to ever premiere on Mexican TV. (Incidentally, Gala TV is owned by Televisa. Big surprise.)
For its English-language remake, Queen of the South, USA has made a couple of tweaks to the original story of a narco esposa who flees to southern Spain after the death of her husband only to become the region’s most powerful traficante. Understandably they started out by substituting madre España for the United States, while Kate Del Castillo’s part as La Reina will be played by Brazilian actress Alice Braga.
No official release date has been confirmed, but USA Network has left us not one but TWO teasers to give us a taste of the series. In both less-than-a-minute clips, we are treated to oh-so-familiar shots of: people running away from explosions, people being shot in the trunks of cars, norteño hats, excessive cocaine use, stacks of money, and guns. In a folkloric twist, they have also included shots of bandits donning Día de Muertos-inspired masks. Looks like fun!
Hit play on the trailer up top and then check out the clip below that airs tonight on USA.