Diego Luna’s “Mexico 86” Among Netflix’s Greenlit Slate of Mexican Projects

Diego Luna is preparing to kick it on Netflix.

The streamer has greenlit six Mexican movies, including México 86, which stars the 45-year-old Mexican actor, director, and producer and tells the story behind Mexico landing the 1986 World Cup.

Diego LunaOther films on the streamer’s slate hail from Jorge Michel Grau, Rodrigo García, Ariel Winograd, Alonso Ruizpalacios and Maite Alberdi.

“Our commitment is real,” Carolina Leconte, Netflix’s VP of Content for Mexico, said in an interview with Deadline about its plans for local film and series.

She referenced its pledge earlier this year to spend $1B on Mexican content over the next four years, its investment in the iconic Churubusco Studios, and a Creative Equity fund it has set up to open doors for the next generation of local talent.

“Mexico is a diverse and rich country, full of unique and authentic stories still waiting to be told. Its talent – both behind and in front of the camera –is renowned globally. That’s why today, to celebrate Mexican Cinema Day, we are announcing a film slate that represents that diversity,” said Leconte.

Netflix has already released Rodrigo Prieto’s magical realist film Pedro Páramo, based on the 1955 Juan Rulfo novel.

Deadline can reveal it will again mine Mexican literature on Aura, an adaptation of influential Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes’ 1962 short novel. Alonso Ruizpalacios will adapt and direct and Stacy Perskie will produce.

México 86, meanwhile, will be directed by Gabriel Ripstein from a script he penned with Daniel Krauze. Luna will exec produce as well as star in the film, which chronicles Mexico’s audacious, against-all-odds — and successful — bid to host the 1986 World Cup. Gaumont USA will produce.

Netflix’s Mexican fare has been resonating globally, with the likes of Counterattack reaching over 71 million views and making it into the global all-time Top 10 for non-English-language, while Lucca’s World topped 28 million views worldwide in the first half of 2025. International success is clearly welcomed, but Leconte explained that the priority is always finding an audience at home.

“We love seeing Mexican stories being so well received, not just here but all over the world,” she said. “Still, our main focus is always on creating local content for local audiences. What matters most to us is telling stories that reflect who we are, that help us see ourselves and our reality on screen. If those stories go on to cross borders, that’s amazing – but our heart is always with what moves us as a country.”

Other titles in Netflix’s new Mexican movie slate include Contra el Huracán. It will tell the story of two half-brothers struggling to survive when an unexpected storm turns into a hurricane off the coast of Acapulco. Jorge Michel Grau directs.

Rodrigo García writes and directs The Follies, which follows six women dealing with social and family pressures and whose paths unexpectedly cross on a rainy day in Mexico City.

La Hora de Los Valientes, meanwhile, is a comedy starring Luis Gerardo Méndez and Memo Villegas in a story about an accident that brings a psychoanalyst and a police inspector together for an unexpected adventure. Ariel Winograd directs and K&S Films produces.

There is also a feature doc in the mix. With the working title of Un Hijo Propio , it follows a woman who longs to become a mother and fakes a pregnancy. As the lie spirals out of control, a medical scandal is unleashed that will shake the whole country. Maite Alberdi directs.

“Variety is key for us: From adaptations of literary classics like Aura by Carlos Fuentes, to high-production-value features like Contra el Huracán, and bold new comedies and dramas like La Hora de los Valientes and México 86,” Leconte said.

“Mexican nonfiction has also found a strong audience, and that’s why we’re betting on innovative documentaries like Un Hijo Propio by two-time Academy Award nominee Maite Alberdi. These are productions of a level never seen before in Mexico.”

It’s fitting that Netflix has doubled down on Mexico’s local film industry on Mexican Cinema Day, but Leconte highlighted its work across series as well as features.

“Our commitment to Mexico is stronger than ever,” she said. “This year, for example, we’re bringing films like The Follies, along with the Juan Gabriel docuseries, one of the most loved Mexican artists ever, The Dead Girls, which is the very first series by acclaimed director Luis Estrada, and new seasons of fan favorites like The Manny.”

Netflix has wrapped production on four brand new series in Mexico: SantitaLove 9 to 5 (Amor de Oficina), I’m Not Afraid (No Tengo Miedo) and Corruptors (Los Corruptores).

Endemol Shine Boomdog Acquires Rights to Carlos Fuentes Vampire Novel “Vlad,” Developing TV Series

Endemol Shine Boomdog is vlad about Carlos Fuentes’ work…

The Mexico City-based production company, a unit of Banijay Americas, has acquired the rights to the late Mexican novelist and essayist’s vampire novel “Vlad.”

Carlos FuentesEndemol Shine Boomdog will develop a series based on the bestseller with lauded showrunner J.M. Cravioto attached as both showrunner and executive producer.

Jerry Rodriguez, Endemol Shine Boomdog’s senior VP and head of scripted content, and Clara Machado are developing the project for Endemol Shine Boomdog.

Carl Zitelmen is adapting Fuentes’ novel for television.

The story follows the mythical vampire who arrives in Mexico City in search of the soul of his beloved Mina, reincarnated as a Mexican woman. To his consternation, Vlad finds her inhabiting a progressive liberal who is not impressed at all by him. Having lost touch with the modern world, the 600-year-old predator struggles with panic attacks and blackout episodes, while he satiates his cravings for fresh blood.

“Vlad offers us the opportunity to reimagine a classic horror story and transform it into a modern thriller. It’s a love story, a high-concept drama that shows us both the savage and the vulnerable side of an immortal being,” said Rodriguez, adding: “We are always seeking out, adapting and creating interesting stories that navigate between genres with ease, stories that can take us from terror to tenderness, from tears to laughter and connect with different audiences in many levels and ‘Vlad’ is a great example of this kind of story.”

“We are looking at ‘Vlad’ as a multi-season series; It’s a character-driven show with complex characters that everyone can relate to,” Rodriguez told Variety. “The vampire himself is going to face a lot of conflicts that are part of the human condition nowadays,” he said, adding that rights negotiations with Silvia Lemus, Fuentes’ widow, was “always amicable and in the best of terms.”“She cares a lot about the property and we went to great lengths to ensure that we would produce a high-concept series that would honor both the author and his story,” Rodriguez explained.

Noting that Boomdog is currently developing a number of horror genre IPs, Rodriguez remarked: “This adaptation of “Vlad” goes way beyond a classic horror, or even a horror show; it’s a mixed genre project that has elements of a modern thriller, a love story, a powerful drama and even some comedy… just like life itself.”

“I find it very attractive and well-timed to propose a new look at classic genres such as thriller and horror through vampirism and romance,” Cravioto agreed. “I think ‘Vlad’ pays homage, preserves and rethinks this classic story from Fuentes’ novel, which on a personal level as a director and story seeker, poses a new narrative and formal challenge,” he added.

Cravioto, one of the most celebrated of film and television directors, producers and screenwriters in Mexico, served as showrunner and director for Netflix’s Diablero and as director of series Monarca, among others. His feature film Malvada will debut in theaters later this year while Corazonada is heading to Paramount+.

Winner of a slew of top literary honors, including the Miguel de Cervantes Prize and the Belisario Dominguez Medal of Honor, Fuentes was regarded as one of the illustrious writers in the Spanish-speaking world before his death in 2012. Some of Fuentes’ most acclaimed novels include The Death of Artemio Cruz, Aura, Terra Nostra, The Old Gringo and Christopher Unborn.

Vlad was first published in 2004 as a short story as part of Fuentes’ Inquieta Compañía and was later released as a novel in 2012, shortly before his death. The New York Times in its 2012 review of Vlad, said “it displays the strengths of a great writer’s late oeuvre to excellent effect” and Publisher’s Weekly stated the novel “follows the pattern of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but infuses the story with a modern sensibility and vivid imagery.”

Interest in the legendary vampire has sparked recently in the wake of news in September about two separate takes on the making of the Spanish-language version of the Bela Lugosi classic, Dracula.

In the first project, Eugenio Derbez is attached to star and executive produce comedic series They Came at Night (working title), which is in development at TelevisaUnivision’s SVOD platform Vix+.

Separately, Gato Grande announced at Madrid TV event Iberseries & Platino Industria that Money Heist star Alvaro Morte would play the actor Carlos Villarias who took on the Dracula role in the Spanish-language version.

Fuentes’ Death of Artemio Cruz to be Brought to Life

The Death Of Artemio Cruz, the novel by the late Carlos Fuentes, may soon be brought to life.

Chatrone LLC has optioned the film and television rights to the novel by the late Mexican writer, who passed away in March at the age of 83.

Carlos FuentesFuentes’ novel, considered the author’s masterpiece, was at the center of the Latin “Boom” movement in the world of literature in the late 80s. The novel is basically a deathbed confession by the title character as he looks back on his corrupt and sordid life and how he evolved from idealistic revolutionary to successful businessman and exploiter of the people and the ideals he once fought for. The book won the Cervantes Prize in 1987.

The Death of Artemio Cruz

“Artemio’s story is compelling because it embodies the history and struggles of Latin America,” says Chatrone’s Carina Schulze, who is developing both TV and film treatments with Aaron D. Berger. “We are pleased to obtain the opportunity to bring the story to the big screen and other media, and we have high expectations for the project as it unfolds.”

Schulze and Berger are currently producing the animated feature, Day Of The Dead, which will be directed by Jorge Gutierrez and produced by Guillermo Del Toro.