Cortes (miniseries)


Cortés is an upcoming American historical drama web television miniseries created and written by Steven Zaillian and starring Javier Bardem. The series is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video.

Premise

Cortés follows "the legendary conqueror, Hernán Cortés, who led a rebellious expedition to the heart of King Moctezuma II’s Aztec Empire, connecting two civilizations for the first time and changing the course of history."

Cast and characters

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 Hernán Cortés and Aztec leader Moctezuma II. The film was written with intent of having Martin Ritt direct and Kirk Douglas play the role of Cortés. The production ultimately never came together.
In 2014, it was reported that Steven Spielberg 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 from a film into a television miniseries and that Amazon had given it an order for four episodes. The series was created and written by Steven Zaillian who is 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 and Diego Luna would executive produce.

Casting

Alongside the initial series announcement, it was confirmed that Javier Bardem, who was initially attached to the project when it was a feature film, had been cast in the lead role of Hernán Cortés. In February 2020, it was further announced that Tenoch Huerta will play Moctezuma II, Aztec Emperor, while Yoshira Escárrega takes on the role of Malintzin or Marina, the strategic partner, translator and consort of Hernán Cortés.