Netflix announces the first-ever Spanish adaptation of ‘The Future is Ours’
Netflix is gearing up for one of its most ambitious projects yet, churning the wheels for the Latin American slate’s first-ever Spanish adaptation of a highly regarded Philip K Dick novel, The Future is Ours, adapted from his 1956 sci-fi novel, The World Jones Made.
According to an exclusive Variety report, principal photography has already begun with showrunner Mateo Gil leading a star-studded cast and crew from across the region.
“It’s one of our most ambitious and complex productions, at the same level of scale and complexity as One Hundred Years of Solitude or The Eternaut,” says Francisco Ramos, Netflix’s VP of content for Latin America. The aim with the upcoming series, Gil clarifies, is to make it totally in the DNA of a Latin American show, not restricting it to any particular geography or nationality.
“The main characters, under the pretext of massive migratory movements and the fact that the capital of this South American Federation is set in Asuncion [Paraguay], come from all over the continent, giving us a broad and diverse range of backgrounds,” he added. And upon hearing about the cast members, the idea rings true.
Netflix has roped in Emiliano Zurita from Mexico, known for her latest work with the streamer for No One Saw Us Leave, Delfina Chaves (Máxima) and Marco Antonio Caponi (Yosi, the Regretful Spy) from Argentina, Alfredo Castro (The Count) from Chile, Enzo Vogrincic (Society of Snow) from Uruguay, and Marleyda Soto (One Hundred Years of Solitude) from Columbia. Directing The Future is Ours for Netflix are Vicente Amorim, Jesús Braceras, and Daniel Rezende.
The eight-episode limited series is set in a “not-so-distant” future of 2047, where a deadly ecological crisis has plagued FedSur, an alliance of South American countries that has turned to strict measures to protect the environment and fight the widespread hunger and violence. Amidst the threatening chaos, a new voice on the web claims to have the foresight to predict the future. Police officer Hugo Crussi tracks the voice to a young preacher, Jonas Flores, and wastes no time in arresting him.
But the plan backfires as Flores becomes more powerful, becoming the spiritual leader of FedSur overnight. Having foretold FedSur’s decline and their victory over climate disintegration, Jonas influences millions of Latinos to become a part of his reactionary revolution. However, Crussi goes on his own mission to take down and kill the “religious tyrant” who foreknows his intent.
Gil, who co-wrote the adaptation with Laura Santullo, Camila Brugés Gómez, and Kyzza Terrazas, reportedly omitted all the references to extraterrestrial invasions and mutant beings from the original work. They substituted those with a world in the face of financial meltdowns. “The series takes place between 2047 and 2052, and in its recent past – around the early 2030s – there was a major disruption of the global food system. That collapse led to state bankruptcies and total economic breakdown, plunging the world into extreme violence,” he explained.
Choosing this story out of all that the author had written was actually not a challenge for Ramos. “We all felt that The World Jones Made resonated deeply, particularly because of its central idea: a man who can see the future. That theme, along with the figure of a prophetic character, felt especially powerful in a Latin American context. The way the story intertwines faith, art, and the creation of an entire universe truly connected with us,” he added.
Isa Dick Hackett, executive producer and the author’s daughter, who has been producing adaptations of her father’s work through Electric Shepherd Productions since 2007, agreed to the choice as well. She has so far produced A Scanner Darkly, The Man in the High Castle, Electric Dreams, and the upcoming Blade Runner 2099.
The Future is Ours will be filmed in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay for some background shots. K&S Films and Electric Shepherd Productions are producing the limited series. Lastly, the executive producers on the show include Dick Hackett, Sarah Scougal, Matías Mosteirín, Diego Copello, Emiliano Torres, Micky Buye and Analía Castro.