''Cortés'' was a never-completed American

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable t ...

miniseries created and written by Steven Zaillian and starring Javier Bardem. The series was set to premiere on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

, but filming was cancelled in early 2020, after only two weeks, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Premise

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

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

, who led a rebellious expedition to the heart of King

Moctezuma II Moctezuma Xocoyotzin . ( – 29 June 1520), retroactively referred to in European sources as Moctezuma II, and often simply called Montezuma,Other variant spellings include Moctezuma, Motewksomah, Motecuhzomatzin, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma, Motē ...

’s

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire, also known as the Triple Alliance (, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahuas, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states rul ...

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

Cast and characters

* Javier Bardem as

* Tenoch Huerta as

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

Production

Development

In 1965, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo 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 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. ...

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 filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

was considering directing ''Montezuma'' from a screenplay written by Steven Zaillian, 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 into a television miniseries and that Amazon had given it an order for four episodes. Javier Bardem, initially attached to the project as a feature film, was cast in the lead role of Hernán Cortés. The series was created and written by Steven Zaillian, who was also set to executive produce alongside Spielberg, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, and Javier Bardem. On October 3, 2019, it was reported that Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallegos would direct the miniseries, while

Gael García Bernal Gael García Bernal (; born 30 November 1978) is a Mexican actor and filmmaker. He is known for his performances in the films ''Amores perros'' (2000), ''Y tu mamá también'' (2001), ''Bad Education (2004 film), Bad Education'' (2004), ''The Mot ...

and

Diego Luna Diego Dionisio Luna Alexander (; born 29 December 1979) is a Mexican actor, director, and producer, best known for his portrayal of Cassian Andor in ''Rogue One, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' (2016) and the Disney+ series ''Andor (TV series), ...

would executive produce.

Casting

In February 2020, it was announced that Tenoch Huerta would play Moctezuma II, Aztec Emperor, with Yoshira Escárrega in the role of Malintzin or Marina, the strategic partner, translator and consort of Hernán Cortés. Ammar Aldieri was cast as Tapeia.

Production

The miniseries was two weeks into filming in Mexico City in March 2020, when production was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was being filmed in Spanish, Nahuatl and Chontal Mayan, from scripts translated by David Bowles. In September 2020, Amazon withdrew from its partnership with Amblin on the miniseries, scrapping the project, due to complications from the still-ongoing pandemic.

References

External links

* {{Dalton Trumbo 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