Netflix To Launch Spanish-Language Original Series From Gaz Alazraki

Gaz Alazraki.

The streaming service-cum-online network Netflix has announced it would launch its first-ever Spanish-language original series. Netflix has ordered 13 episodes of an untitled comedy from director Gaz Alazraki, starring Luis Gerardo Méndez. The project marks a reunion for the duo, who both worked on Mexican box office smash Nosotros los Nobles.

Dubbed a satirical effort, from creator Mike Lam and Alazraki Entertainment, the series focuses on feuding heirs of a soccer club after the owner dies. The entire first season will launch in 2015, with shooting set for Mexico.

Alazraki Entertainment, a new production company formed by Alazraki and former Warner Bros. Mexico production head Leonardo Zimbrón, was also behind Nosotros los Nobles. The company's feature debut raked in $27 million at the box office, making it Mexico's second highest-grossing film of all time. The film's focus on Mexico social-class divide made it a huge cultural phenomenon.

This is not Netflix's first effort in Latin America. The streamer recently committed to a 10-episode order of "Narcos", a drama based on Pablo Escobar's Medellín cartel. From Brazilian director José Padilha, the series will shoot in Colombia. However, this Netflix announcement is unprecedented, given the fact that the Alazraki project will be distributed to all users on the Netflix platform, rather than to a specific demographic who tune into a particular channel for a particular type of content.

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