Amazon Studios has greenlighted ‘Cortés’, a four-hour miniseries based on the epic saga of Hernan Cortés starring Javier Bardem in the title role. The series, from Steven Spielberg and Amblin Television, will be created for television and written by Steven Zaillian (‘Schindler’s List’) based on the screenplay by Dalton Trumbo.
‘Cortés’ tells the story of legendary conqueror Hernan Cortés (Bardem), who led a rebellious expedition to the heart of King Montezuma II’s Aztec empire, connecting two civilizations for the first time and changing the course of history. From a historical standpoint, Cortés is a controversial figure: seen by some as a legend in the history of Spain and as a mass murderer responsible for the destruction of a great civilization.
“We are so pleased that Amazon has given us the opportunity to bring this exciting 500-year-old story to Prime Video members worldwide. It is a part of history that had such a significant impact and largely influenced modern day civilizations. With Javier as Cortés, we have the perfect star for this role, and we can’t wait to get started,” Amblin Television co-heads Frank and Falvey said in a joint statement.
Trumbo wrote the screenplay for a film about the meeting of Cortés and the Aztecs, originally titled “Montezuma,” in the 1960s. But the feature was never made. It originally was planned to reteam Trumbo with Kirk Douglas, who starred in the former’s ‘Spartacus’.
In 2014 Spielberg was interested in directing the life of Cortés on the big screen, but eventually felt that the scope of the story was best suited for a miniseries format. So the property was revived then at DreamWorks with Zaillian attached to write, Bardem likely to star and Spilberg set to direct.
This project is different from a previous Cortés series announced several years ago at HBO, a drama series directed by Martin Scorsese and executive produced by Benicio Del Toro who was interested in starring as the Aztec conqueror.
> Mar Martínez
Amazon Greenlights Spielberg’s 'Cortés' Series With Javier Bardem
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