Javier Bardem’s Cortes Y Moctezuma series at Amazon Studios is being scrapped due to COVID-19

Javier Bardem’s Cortes Y Moctezuma series at Amazon Studios is being scrapped entirely due to COVID-19

Javier Bardem’s upcoming Amazon Studios TV series Cortes Y Moctezuma has become the latest program to fall victim to COVID-19.

The 51-year-old actor was slated to portray Hernan Cortes in the four-episode mini-series, which was said to be the largest Spanish-language production ever.

Filming had already been under way for just over two weeks before filming was shut down due to COVID-19, but now Deadline reports the project will be scrapped entirely.

Scrapped: Javier Bardem’s upcoming Amazon Studios TV series Cortes Y Moctezuma has become the latest program to fall victim to COVID-19

The series centered on Bardem’s Cortes, a legendary conquistador who rebellious expedition to the heart of King Montezuma II’s (Tenoch Huerta) Aztec empire.

The epic journey would ultimately bring two civilizations together for the first time and change the course of history.

Bardem and Huerta starred alongside Juan Carlos Vellido as Pedro de Alvarado, with the series created by Steven Zaillian (Traffic), based on an unproduced feature film screenplay by the legendary Dalton Trumbo (Spartacus), with Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal serving as executive producers. 

Cortes: The series centered on Bardem's Cortes, a legendary conquistador who rebellious expedition to the heart of King Montezuma II’s (Tenoch Huerta) Aztec empire

Cortes: The series centered on Bardem’s Cortes, a legendary conquistador who rebellious expedition to the heart of King Montezuma II’s (Tenoch Huerta) Aztec empire

‘Due to the production constraints created by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Amazon Studios and Amblin Partners are unable to move forward with production on our Cortés y Moctezuma series,’ the companies said in a joint statement.

‘In the current climate, there is unfortunately no way to remount the production in the near future to achieve the scale and scope that was intended and that the series deserves,’ the statement added. 

‘We have nothing but admiration and respect for Javier, Tenoch, Yoshira, Gael, Diego, Steve Zaillian, and the entire cast and crew of the series and hope we can work together again in the future,’ the statement concluded.

Constraints: 'Due to the production constraints created by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Amazon Studios and Amblin Partners are unable to move forward with production on our Cortés y Moctezuma series,' the companies said in a joint statement

Constraints: ‘Due to the production constraints created by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Amazon Studios and Amblin Partners are unable to move forward with production on our Cortés y Moctezuma series,’ the companies said in a joint statement

The project originated as a screenplay written by Dalton Trumbo in the 1960s, a decade after he was part of the blacklisted screenwriters known as the Hollywood Ten. 

He wrote the project in hopes of reuniting with Kirk Douglas, who hired Trumbo to write Spartacus and thus ending the Hollywood Ten blacklist.

DreamWorks revived the project as a feature film in 2014, said to be a passion project of Steven Spielberg, who was then attached to direct from a new script by Steven Zaillian. 

Project: The project originated as a screenplay written by Dalton Trumbo in the 1960s, a decade after he was part of the blacklisted screenwriters known as the Hollywood Ten

Project: The project originated as a screenplay written by Dalton Trumbo in the 1960s, a decade after he was part of the blacklisted screenwriters known as the Hollywood Ten

While the project may be revived again in the future, though there are no current plans to utilize the footage that was already shot.

Since the project was shot out of sequence there is no way for the completed footage to be turned into a movie or even a special of some sort.

Bardem will next be seen on the big screen as Stilgar in the highly-anticipated Dune adaptation, and he’s also set to play King Triton in The Little Mermaid adaptation. 

Near future: While the project may be revived again in the future, though there are no current plans to utilize the footage that was already shot

Near future: While the project may be revived again in the future, though there are no current plans to utilize the footage that was already shot