It wasn’t that long ago when the soap opera genre was considered to be dying, but it has since seen a major turnaround — to the point where NBC (home of sudser “Days of our Lives”) and USA are developing new soaps!
The Hollywood Reporter has published an article in which it’s revealed that NBCUniversal is developing an English-language version of “El Senor de los Cielos” (The Lord of the Skies), and USA is developing an English-language version of “Mujer de Acero” (Woman of Steel) — telenovelas belonging to their sister network, Telemundo.
“These agreements are further examples of our continuos efforts to work across the NBCUniversal brands to integrate and leverage our resources and expertise,” says Joe Uva, chairman, Hispanic Enterprises and Content at NBCUniversal.
Adds Jeff Wachtel, president and chief content officer, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment: “The telenovela format has a long history of delivering compelling episodic dramas and storylines that transcend culture and generations. We’re fortunate to have a library of stellar content that we can tap into with Telemundo and are excited at the prospect of extending it across our cable portfolio.”
“El Senor de los Cielos” follows Aurelio Casillas (Rafael Amaya), a prominent Mexican drug lord from the 90s, and draws 2.3 million viewers nightly. Meanwhile, “Mujer de Acero” has yet to debut on Telemundo. There’s no word yet on whether the English versions will be daytime or primetime shows.