Cortes (miniseries)

Production

In 1965, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo completed a 205-page draft of a screenplay titled Montezuma, centered on the relationship between Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma II, intended for director Martin Ritt and actor Kirk Douglas as Cortés, but the film was never made. In 2014, Steven Spielberg was reported to be considering directing Montezuma from a screenplay by Steven Zaillian based on Trumbo's script, with a possible retitling to Cortes. On March 26, 2018, the project was announced as a four-episode television miniseries ordered by Amazon, with Javier Bardem cast as Cortés.

Zaillian was set to executive produce alongside Spielberg, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, and Bardem. On October 3, 2019, Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallegos were reported as directors, with Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna as executive producers. In February 2020, Tenoch Huerta was announced to play Moctezuma II, Yoshira Escárrega as Malintzin, and Ammar Aldieri as Tapeia. Filming began in Mexico City in March 2020 but was suspended after two weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The scripts were translated by David Bowles. In September 2020, Amazon withdrew from its partnership with Amblin, scrapping the project due to pandemic complications.