Mexican broadcast giant Azteca TV and History Channel Latin America have acquired the epic series Hernan for their platforms, according to Variety. The eight-episode series is produced by the Mexican Dopamine, which is owned by the Salinas Group, and the Spanish Onza Entertainment and marks the 500th Anniversary of the conquistador Hernan Cortés’ arrival in the country that is today known as Mexico.
The series is set in 1519 and follows the conquest of Mexico by the Spanish conquistador Cortés and his troops and will showcase some important characters’ point of views on this turbulent time in both Spain’s and Mexico’s history. Cortès was a military genius and a diplomat who was both loved and hated.
Oscar Jaenada (Cantinflas, Luis Miguel: The Series) plays the conquistador Cortès. The cast also includes the following actors from Mexico and Spain: Víctor Clavijo who plays Captain Cristóbal de Olid, Dagoberto Gama who plays Moctezuma, Michel Brown who plays Captain Alvarado, Jorge Guerrero who plays Xiconténcatl, Almagro San Miguel who plays Captain Sandoval, Isabel Bautista who plays Marina/Malinche, and Aura Garrido who plays Doña Juana.
Hernan was shot in both Mexico and Spain. The sets were built in both countries and the special effects are by El Ranchito (Game of Thrones). According to Fidela Navarro, Dopamine’s CEO, the second season of the series will start filming by the beginning of January 2020. Amazon has also acquired the Latin America and the Spanish streaming rights to the series and plans to release it later this year.
The story of the conquistador Cortèz continues to fascinate Hollywood. In fact, HBO has been working on a series about Cortès and last year, Amazon has ordered the miniseries Cortès from Amblin Television and Steven Spielberg. Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List) will serve as the writer of the TV series, which is based on a script by the “blacklisted” screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Roman Holiday). Furthermore, the film titled Montezuma focused on the difficult relationship between the conquistador Cortès and the Aztec emperor Montezuma II.