Televisa USA and Starz in development to co-produce original series Maleficio

Starz Chief Executive Officer Chris Albrecht announced at Starz Television Critics Association (TCA) presentation at The Langham Huntington in Pasadena, California that Starz has partnered with Televisa USA to develop the original series Maleficio.The Starz and Televisa USA co-production is based on the popular Mexican production El Maleficio, which originally aired in 1983-84 with 320 episodes to become one of the most successful telenovelas of all time. The new supernatural thriller will center on Don Enrique De Martino, a powerful Mexican businessman who has made a deadly pact with the Devil. Writer and Producer Mauricio Katz (Niño Santo, The Bridge) will serve as showrunner. Pedro Peirano (No, Niño Santo) will serve as executive producer and will co-write the first episode with Katz. “We are pleased to partner with Televisa USA for an adaptation of such an incredibly successful series and bring it to the U.S. audience,” said Carmi Zlotnik, managing director for Starz. “With Mauricio Katz’s prolific writing guiding the project and Pedro Peirano executive producing, Maleficio was a project we knew was worth developing.” “Starz’ stamp of quality together with Mauricio and Pedro¹s tremendous vision and intimate knowledge of the format will ensure an impactful return of this iconic series. Maleficios’ past success means we have a built-in audience of hundreds of millions of fans worldwide,” said Chris Philip, head of Production and Distribution for Televisa USA. Starz will retain all domestic and Canadian rights and Televisa USA will retain International rights.