La Reina del Sur (lit. 'The Queen of the South') is a Spanish-language telenovela based on a novel of the same name by Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte. It premiered on 28 February 2011. The first season is produced by the American television network Telemundo in conjunction with the Antena 3 network and RTI Producciones, while the second and third seasons are co-produced by Telemundo Global Studios and Netflix. The series depicts the rise of Teresa Mendoza (Kate del Castillo), a young woman from Mexico who becomes the most powerful drug trafficker in southern Spain.
| La Reina del Sur | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Telenovela |
| Created by | Roberto Stopello |
| Based on | La Reina del Sur by Arturo Pérez-Reverte |
| Written by |
|
| Story by | Arturo Pérez-Reverte |
| Directed by |
|
| Creative director | Gabriela Monroy |
| Narrated by | Kate del Castillo |
| Theme music composer | Bello Jaime Teodoro |
| Opening theme |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | Spanish |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 183 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Ángel Ossorio |
| Cinematography | Alejandro García W. |
| Editors |
|
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 35 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Telemundo |
| Release | 28 February 2011 – 16 January 2023 |
| Related | |
| Queen of the South | |
With a $10 million budget it is the second most expensive telenovela ever produced by Telemundo, the first being El Señor de los Cielos.[1] An English language remake, Queen of the South, premiered in June 2016 on USA Network, starring Alice Braga.[2][3]
The series has been renewed for a second season that premiered on 22 April 2019.[4] On 16 July 2020, Telemundo announced that the series was renewed for a third season.[5][6] The third season aired from 18 October 2022 to 16 January 2023.[7]
Synopsis
editSeason 1 (2011)
editThe series is the television adaptation of the literary work of the same name of Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte. It is the chronicle of the rise to power of a Mexican woman within the world of international drug trafficking. Teresa Mendoza begins her adventure as a humble young woman in love with a pilot employed by the Mexican cartels. When they execute her boyfriend, Teresa flees, desperate to avoid the same fate. Her escape takes her to the south of Spain where she tries to start a new life. However, she is once again immersed in the world of narcotics trafficking, and for a second time, she suffers the death of a beloved man. After several blows, Teresa decides to take the reins of her destiny and becomes the head of her own organization. This is done with the help of a woman she meets in prison, who decides to share her fortune with Teresa. Through strategic alliances and a strong sense for business, Teresa "La Mexicana" begins to control an intercontinental drug distribution business. However, her great success is accompanied by a high personal price, and Teresa's happiness and heart are tested.
Season 2 (2019)
editThe second season of La Reina del Sur follows the life of Teresa Mendoza eight years after the events of the first-season finale. Isolating herself from the rest of the world, Teresa now lives an idyllic life in Italian Tuscany, but the kidnapping of her daughter forces her to go back to the underworld and reintroduces herself into drug trafficking. To save her daughter, Teresa needs to confront her old enemies once more and face her past that she had tried to leave behind.[8][9]
Season 3 (2022–23)
editAfter four years in prison in the United States for the deaths of three DEA agents, Teresa Mendoza escapes but will have to face a world full of conspiracy, risking her life in order to clear her name and reunite with her daughter Sofía.
Episodes
editCast
editMain
edit- Kate del Castillo as Teresa Mendoza
- Humberto Zurita as Epifanio Vargas
- Rafael Amaya as Raimundo Dávila Parra "El Güero" (season 1)
- Iván Sánchez as Santiago López Fisterra "El Gallego" (season 1)
- Cristina Urgel as Patricia O'Farrell (season 1)
- Alberto Jiménez as Oleg Yasikov (season 1)
- Miguel de Miguel as Teo Aljarafe (season 1; guest season 2)
- Gabriel Porras as Roberto Márquez "El Gato Fierros" (season 1)
- Salvador Zerboni as Ramiro Vargas "El Ratas" (season 1)
- Nacho Fresneda as Dris Larbi (season 1)
- Mónica Estarreado as Fátima Mansur (season 1)
- Alejandro Calva as César Güemes "Batman"
- Cuca Escribano as Sheila
- Dagoberto Gama as Potequim Gálvez "El Pote" (season 1)
- Christian Tappan as Willy Rangel (seasons 1–2)
- Eduardo Velasco as Coronel Abdelkader Chaib (seasons 1–2)
- Alfonso Vallejo as Manolo Céspedes (season 1)
- Pablo Castañón as Lalo Veiga (season 1)
- Miguel Ángel Blanco as Siso Pernas (seasons 1–2)
- Lorena Santos as Soraya (season 1)
- Sara Maldonado as Verónica Cortés / Guadalupe Romero (season 1)
- Carmen Navarro as Marcela "La Conejo" (seasons 1–2)
- Santiago Meléndez as Saturnino "Nino" Juárez (season 1)
- Juan José Arjona as Pablo Flores (seasons 1–2)
- Raoul Bova as Francesco Belmondo "Lupo" (season 2)
- Paola Núñez as Manuela Cortés (season 2)
- Mark Tacher as Alejandro Alcalá (season 2)
- Flavio Medina as Zurdo Villa (season 2)
- Luisa Gavasa as Cayetana Segovia de Aljarafe (season 2)[13]
- Antonio Gil as Oleg Yasikov (seasons 2–3)
- Kika Edgar as Genoveva Alcalá (seasons 2–3)
- Lincoln Palomeque as Faustino Sánchez Godoy (seasons 2–3; guest season 1)
- Patricia Reyes Spíndola as Carmen Martínez (season 2)
- Carmen Flores as Charo (season 2)
- Emmanuel Orenday as Danilo Márquez (seasons 2–3)
- Alejandro Speitzer as Ray Dávila (season 2)
- Tiago Correa as Jonathan Peres (season 2; recurring season 3)
- Sara Vidorreta as Rocío Aljarafe (season 2; recurring season 3)[14]
- Ágata Clares as Paloma Aljarafe (seasons 2–3)
- Abdelali El Aziz as Ahmed (season 2; guest season 1)
- Isabella Sierra as Sofía Mendoza (seasons 2–3)
- Pêpê Rapazote as Pablo Landero (seasons 3)
- Ed Trucco as Ernie Palmero (seasons 3)
- Horacio Garcia Rojas as Charlie Velazquez (seasons 3)
- Beth Chamberlin as Jane Kozar (seasons 3)
- Sofia Lama as Susana Guzmán (seasons 3)
Recurring and guest stars
edit- Karim El-Kerem as Mohamed Mansur (season 1)
- Klaus as Eddie Álvarez (season 1)
- Nerea Garmendia as Eugenia Montijo (season 1)
- Juan Pablo Raba as Jaime Gutiérrez Solana (season 1)
- Ezequiel Montalt as Jaime "Jimmy" Arenas (season 1)
- Rodolfo Valdés as El Chino Parra (season 1)
- Jesús Castro as Jesús (season 2)
- Pol Monen as Juan (season 2)[15]
- Eduardo Yáñez as Antonio Alcalá (seasons 2–3)
- Aitor Luna as Pedro (season 2)
- Eduardo Santamarina as Mariano Bravo (season 2)
- Eric Roberts as Erick Sheldon (season 2)
- María Camila Giraldo as Jimena Montes (season 2)
- Vera Mercado as Virginia Vargas (season 2)
- Norma Angélica as Morgana (season 2)
- Eduardo Pérez as Sergio (season 2)
- Dimitry Anisimov as Anton (season 2)
- Aroha Hafez as Triana (season 2)
- Anna Ciocchetti as Marietta Lancaster (season 2)
- Roberto Abraham Wohlmuth as Lencho (season 2)
- Daniel Martínez as Senator (season 3)
- Carlos Valencia as Montaño (season 3)
- Arturo Ríos as Delio Jurado (season 3)
- Dmitry Anisimov as Anton Potapushin (season 3)
- Denia Agalianou as Vanessa (season 3)
- Anderley Palomino as Mateo Mena (season 3)
- Noé Hernández as General Carlos Garrido (season 3)
Remake
editAn English language remake, titled Queen of the South, premiered in June 2016 on USA Network, starring Alice Braga.[2][3]
Ratings
edit| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | Avg. viewers (millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) |
Date | Viewers (millions) | ||||
| 1 | Mon–Fri 10:00 p.m. | 63 | 28 February 2011 | 2.4[16] | 30 May 2011 | 4.2[17] | TBD |
| 2 | 60 | 22 April 2019 | 2.36[18] | 29 July 2019 | 2.23[19] | 1.89 | |
| 3 | Mon–Fri 9:00 p.m. | 60 | 18 October 2022 | 1.21[20] | 16 January 2023 | 1.10[21] | 0.93 |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Nominated | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | People in Spanish Awards | Best Telenovela | Roberto Stopello | Won | |
| Best Actress | Kate del Castillo | Won | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Humberto Zurita | Nominated | |||
| Rafael Amaya | Nominated | ||||
| Best Villain | Salvador Zerboni | Nominated | |||
| Newcomer of the Year | Cristina Urgel | Won | |||
| Iván Sánchez | Nominated | ||||
| Sweethearts | Kate del Castillo & Iván Sánchez | Nominated | |||
| 2012 | TVyNovelas Awards Colombia | Best Series | Roberto Stopello | Nominated | |
| Favorite Production | Roberto Stopello | Nominated | |||
| Best Villain Of Series | Humberto Zurita | Nominated | |||
| 1st Your World Awards | Novela of the Year | Roberto Stopello | Nominated | [22][23][24] | |
| Favorite Lead Actress | Kate del Castillo | Nominated | |||
| Best Bad Luck Video | Amor que mata | Nominated | |||
| 2020 | International Emmy Award | Best Non-English Language U.S. Primetime Program | La Reina del Sur | Won | [25] |
| 2023 | Produ Awards | Best Superseries | La Reina del Sur | Won | [26] |
| Best Lead Actress - Superseries or Telenovela | Kate del Castillo | Won | |||
| Best Directing - Superseries or Telenovela | Carlos Villegas, Claudia Pedraza and Carlos Bolado | Won |
Source material
editArturo Pérez-Reverte, author of the novel, The Queen of the South, has said that a great source of inspiration for his novel were Mexican drug ballads,[27] country-polka songs that tell the stories about real life Mexican drug lords.
One of the real life characters that inspired the novel is Sandra Ávila Beltrán,[28][29][30][31] known as the Queen of the Pacific, famous for being one of the first female drug traffickers to reach the level of "Boss" in the Mexican cartels, a place usually reserved for men.[32]
References
edit- ^ Guthrie, Marisa (1 April 2011). "How the Telenovela Is Beating the Networks". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
- ^ a b N'Duka, Amanda (9 June 2016). "Queen Of The South EP & Cast Talk Female Empowerment And The Importance of Keeping It Real". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
- ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (23 September 2014). "La Reina Del Sur Adaptation Picked Up By USA Network As Drama Pilot". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
- ^ "TELEMUNDO ANNOUNCES THE PREMIERE DATE OF THE RETURN OF "LA REINA DEL SUR" STARRING KATE DEL CASTILLO FOR MONDAY, APRIL 22 AT 10PM/9C". nbcumv.com. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ "Telemundo Announces The Much-Anticipated Third Season of Global Hit Super Series "La reina del sur" at NBCUniversal's Upfront Special Tonight at 8PM ET/PT". nbcumv.com. 16 July 2020. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- ^ "Telemundo y Netflix se alían para una tercera temporada de La reina del sur". todotvnews.com (in Spanish). 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- ^ González, Moisés (31 August 2022). "La reina del sur 3 destapa su fecha de estreno: mira un detrás de cámaras de la nueva temporada en imágenes". People en Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ "La reina del sur 2: tráiler, fecha de estreno, personajes y lo que debes saber". laprensa.peru.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ "ONLY FIVE MORE DAYS UNTIL LA REINA ARRIVES!". nbcumv.com. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
- ^ González, Moisés. "La reina del sur 2 ya tiene fecha de estreno". People en Español. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
- ^ "Este es el primer avance de La Reina del Sur 2". El Salvador (in Spanish). 17 May 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ "LA REINA DEL SUR, MUST-SEE SEASON FINALE STARRING KATE DEL CASTILLO COMES TO AN EXPLOSIVE END THIS MONDAY, JULY 29 AT 10P/9C ON TELEMUNDO". nbcumv.com. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
- ^ "'La Reina del Sur': Luisa Gavasa se une a la serie de Netflix en su segunda temporada". formulatv.com (in Spanish). 3 June 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ Quijorna, Cristian. "'La Reina del Sur': Sara Vidorreta ficha por la nueva temporada de la serie en Netflix". formulatv.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ Palenzuela, Fernando (3 June 2018). "'La Reina del Sur': Pol Monen ficha por la segunda temporada de la serie en Netflix". formulatv.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ "Telemundo's Epic Original Production La Reina Del Sur Delivers Highest Premiere Ratings In Network History". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ Sellers, John (31 May 2011). "'La Reina del Sur' Finale Does Muy, Muy Bien for Telemundo". thewrap.com. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ "TELEMUNDO'S 'LA REINA DEL SUR' - #1 SHOW IN AMERICA AT 10PM AMONG ADULTS 18-49". nbcumv.com. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ Pucci, Douglas (30 July 2019). "Monday Final Ratings: 'La Reina del Sur' Second Season Finale on Telemundo Wins its Hour Among Adults 18-49 and 18-34". programminginsider.com. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (19 October 2022). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Tuesday 10.18.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (18 January 2023). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Monday 1.16.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
- ^ TELEMUNDO PRESENTS THE FIRST EDITION OF “PREMIOS TU MUNDO” (YOUR WORLD AWARDS) CELEBRATING THE BEST IN POP CULTURE THURSDAY, AUGUST 30 FROM 8PM-11PM/ET
- ^ "Las últimas fotos de Premios Tu Mundo". Telemundo.
- ^ Lista de ganadores de la primera edición de los premios Tu Mundo [permanent dead link]
- ^ Kanter, Jane (24 September 2020). "International Emmy Awards Nominations: Glenda Jackson & 'For Sama' Among Those Vying For Prizes". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ "Finalistas | Premios PRODU". premiosprodu.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "Navegaciones - La Jornada". www.jornada.com.mx.
- ^ "La narcotraficante mexicana La Reina del Pacífico queda en libertad tras ocho años de prisión". ELMUNDO. February 8, 2015.
- ^ UNIÓN JALISCO, Redes de Información y Educación del Siglo XXI de EL UNIVERSAL y UNO TV (March 7, 2019). "UN1ÓN | JALISCO: Noticias de Jalisco en tiempo real". www.unionjalisco.mx. Archived from the original on September 5, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ "La narco más famosa llega a Estados Unidos". EL DEBATE.
- ^ "Historias de ficción y medias verdades sobre el narco en México son buen negocio para productores de series - SinEmbargo MX". 20 May 2018.
- ^ Franklin, Jonathan (May 16, 2016). "Queen of Cartels: most famous female leader of Mexico's underworld speaks out". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.