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Spielberg's Lost Masterpiece: The Canceled Miniseries We Will Never See
The canceled miniseries by Steven Spielberg had all the potential to become a classic, but sadly, it was never produced.
Sometimes projects emerge that seem to have all the ingredients to become a classic. In 2018, Amazon greenlit an ambitious miniseries about the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. With Steven Spielberg as an executive producer, Javier Bardem in the lead role, and a script that drew from the work of Dalton Trumbo, success seemed guaranteed. Yet Cortés vanished quietly from the radar.
The idea for the project dates back to 1965 when Trumbo penned a script about the confrontation between Cortés and Aztec ruler Montezuma II. That script sat on the shelf for years. In 2014, Steven Zaillian, known for Schindler’s List, revived it. What started as a feature film ultimately morphed into a four-part miniseries. Bardem officially signed on for the lead, and Spielberg remained on board as producer.
The series was grandly set up: filmed in Spanish, Nahuatl, and Chontal-Maya and directed by Colombian duo Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego. Everything pointed to a series that aimed to combine historical scale with moral complexity. Bardem said at the time in a statement: "The best and worst sides of humanity come together in this story. It's a privilege to portray that."
But just as preparations were in full swing, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in the works. Production was halted in 2020 and never resumed. Amazon ultimately decided to cancel the series. Thus, a project that had the potential to measure up to epic series like Shōgun, where history, violence, and tragedy go hand in hand, disappeared.
Whether Cortés will ever be resurrected is uncertain. However, the combination of the involved creators and the dramatic core of the story ensures that the canceled series remains intriguing. Not every failure is a missed opportunity, but in this case, it certainly feels like one.
The idea for the project dates back to 1965 when Trumbo penned a script about the confrontation between Cortés and Aztec ruler Montezuma II. That script sat on the shelf for years. In 2014, Steven Zaillian, known for Schindler’s List, revived it. What started as a feature film ultimately morphed into a four-part miniseries. Bardem officially signed on for the lead, and Spielberg remained on board as producer.
Big Plans, Early End
The series was grandly set up: filmed in Spanish, Nahuatl, and Chontal-Maya and directed by Colombian duo Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego. Everything pointed to a series that aimed to combine historical scale with moral complexity. Bardem said at the time in a statement: "The best and worst sides of humanity come together in this story. It's a privilege to portray that."
But just as preparations were in full swing, the COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench in the works. Production was halted in 2020 and never resumed. Amazon ultimately decided to cancel the series. Thus, a project that had the potential to measure up to epic series like Shōgun, where history, violence, and tragedy go hand in hand, disappeared.
Will It Ever Revive?
Whether Cortés will ever be resurrected is uncertain. However, the combination of the involved creators and the dramatic core of the story ensures that the canceled series remains intriguing. Not every failure is a missed opportunity, but in this case, it certainly feels like one.