Netflix Orders Salma Hayek Drama Series ‘Monarca’

Netflix has purchased the Mexican drama series Monarca from Salma Hayek’s company, Ventanarosa. Monarca is the story of a multi-generational family with a business empire built on tequila that has earned them billions. With big business comes big corruption and power. The kind of power no one gives up without a fight. That is unless the take-down is from the inside, engineered by a lone family member ready to end the system that has rained wealth upon their own family.

Ventanarosa will be working in conjunction with Lemon Studios and Stearns Castle in the U.S. and Mexico with showrunner Diego Gutiérrez to start production this fall. Gutiérrez spoke with The Hollywood Reporter.

“This is the definition of a passion project for me. Having been born and raised in Mexico, I’m humbled to have the opportunity to tell this story with Netflix and the incredibly talented team of people we’re assembling, both in the U.S. and Mexico.”

Irene Azuela, who has been tapped for the lead role, is best known for her roles as Elisa Gaona on Paramedicos, and Tania Munoz in La Querida Del Centauro, as well as Cristina in Sense8. Azuela has been acting professionally for 18 years and has a theater background, including postgraduate studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Juan Manuel Bernal, best known for The Blue Room and Perfect Obedience, will co-star.

Michael McDonald of Stearns Castle, who has been named as the producer, has a writing team of Fernando Rovzar, Julia Denis, Ana Sofia Clerici, and Sandra García Velten, whose collective credits include work on Trece miedos, El Vato, and Paramedicos.

In El Comercio, Hayek shared her enthusiasm for the project and people involved with it.

“I am extremely excited to partner with Netflix and to work with incredible Mexican talent in front of and behind the scenes, and we are very proud to show Mexico as a vibrant, sophisticated and culturally rich nation that is struggling to control its own destiny.”

Adding Monarca to their ever-growing portfolio of international programming, Netflix significantly strengthens their positioning a major player not only in the Mexican programming market but Latin America as a whole. The combination of Hayek’s well-known name with Netflix’s global reach, Monarca is poised to be a show that may gain international attention.

At this time, no other details regarding major cast members have been released. The global launch of Monarca is set for 2019.