Netflix Orders Salma Hayek-Produced Mexican Drama Monarca

Netflix has ordered a drama set in the world of Mexican billionaires ensnared in corruption, violence and scandal. Monarca, which was originally in production with ABC in 2015, is described in a press release as a “high stakes, multi-generational family saga about a tequila-born Mexican business empire, and the battle that ensues when a member of the family decides to fight the dirty system her family helped create.”

The series will go into production this fall and is set for a global launch in 2019. Monarca stars Irene Azuela and Juan Manuel Bernal, and is being produced by Salma Hayek’s company Ventanarosa, along with Lemon Studios and Stearns Castle.

“I’m extremely excited to partner with Netflix, and to be working with amazing Mexican talent in front of and behind the camera,” said Hayek in a Netflix statement. “We are proud to show Mexico as a vibrant, sophisticated and culturally rich nation, fighting to control its own destiny.”

The show was created by Diego Gutierrez, who will also serve as the showrunner on Monarca. Gutierrez originally brought the show to Stearns Castle’s Michael McDonald, who then looped in Hayek. The two had previously collaborated on ABC’s Ugly Betty.