Following the crossover success of ABC’s Ugly Betty and Lifetime’s Devious Maids, the CW is looking to develop its own Spanish telenovela remake.
The network, in one of its first buys of the coming season, has put in development Jane the Virgin, a drama based on the Venezuelan telenovela Juana la virgen.
Jennie Snyder Urman, the creator of the CW’s short-lived drama series Emily Owens, MD, will write the adaptation for CBS Television Studios.
Jane the Virgin centers on Jane, a hard-working, religious girl who, due to a series of outrageous events, is accidentally artificially inseminated.
Juana la virgen, created by Perla Farias, was a hit in its original run on Venezuelan broadcaster RCTV in 2002, where it drew an average of 39.1% share, topping the competition by a wide margin.
The telenovela, which starred Daniela Alvarado and Ricardo Álamo, also did very well in Brazil, Spain, Colombia and Mexico and has been translated into 9 languages.
In the U.S., Juana la virgen aired on Univision and is available on Hulu.
Should Jane the Virgin become reality, it would join ABC’s Ugly Betty, which was based on the Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty, La Fea, and the upcoming Sofia Vergara-executive-produced ABC series Killer Women, based on the Argentine crime drama Mujeres asesinas.
This would be Juana‘s second remake, following an Indian version.
