Salma Hayek to make Tequila-soaked Netflix series

Multitalented Mexican actress Salma Hayek is to produce a Spanish language Netflix series called Monarca about a corrupt, family-run Tequila empire.

Salma Hayek is to produce a Netflix series about a corrupt Tequila empire

Originally developed for ABC in 2015, Monarca is described as a high stakes, multi-generational family saga charting the battle that ensues when a member of the Tequila firm tries to fight the corrupt system her family helped create.

The series will go into production this autumn through Hayek’s company Ventanarosaproduction, Lemon Studios, and Michael McDonald, and is slated to debut in 2019.

“I’m extremely excited to partner with Netflix and to be working with amazing Mexican talent in front of and behind the camera.

“We are proud to show Mexico as a vibrant, sophisticated and culturally rich nation fighting to control its own destiny,” Hayek said.

Starring Irene Azuela and Juan Manuel Bernal, the series was created by Diego Gutierrez, who worked with Michael McDonald on the ABC series Ugly Betty.

“This is the definition of a passion project for me. Having been born and raised in Mexico, I’m humbled to have the opportunity to tell this story with Netflix and the incredibly talented team of people we’re assembling, both in the US and Mexico,” Gutierrez said.

Hayek also has a connection to the wine world, as she’s married to François-Henri Pinault, owner of Château Latour in Bordeaux, Araujo Estate in the Napa Valley, Chateau Grillet in the Northern Rhône and Domaine d’Eugenie in Vosne-Romanée.

The couple have an 10-year-old daughter called Valentina.