Amazon Prime Video has ordered El Gato (working title), based on the comic book series El Gato Negro, starring Diego Boneta (Luis Miguel: The Series, Father of the Bride). In this bilingual drama, Boneta will play Frank Guerrero, the black sheep of his family, who finds himself at the center of a vast conspiracy when he discovers his father was a ’70s vigilante, “El Gato.” The series was created by Eric Carrasco (Foundation, Supergirl), who will showrun and executive produce along with co-showrunners Turi Meyer & Alfredo Septién (Stargirl, Smallville).
The logline: El Gato follows Frank, who returns home to Mexico after the death of his father and finds himself neck deep in a nest of vipers – his estranged family – who are vying for control of his father’s business empire. But Frank’s grief is interrupted when he learns his only inheritance, a seemingly worthless parcel of land on the border, sits atop the lair of a famous costumed vigilante. His father was “El Gato.” Now, Frank is in the crosshairs. To survive, he’ll have to solve mysteries decades in the making and unravel the truth about his father’s connections to a modern-day terror plot.
“This is a pulp thriller,” says Carrasco. “It’s a family drama, it’s everything I love about spies and masks and secret identities. A lot of us on this team – Diego, and Andrew Mittman, and Steve Stark, and Carla Gonzalez Vargas, and I – have been at this for a long time now, and it’s a genuine thrill to finally make the show with MGM Television and Prime Video.”
“Sharing El Gato with audiences around the world is a dream come true,” says Boneta. “This has been a passion of mine since I started Three Amigos. Eric Carrasco and the entire team have built a character and universe that honors the super hero genre and still feels completely epic and original. It is an absolute honor to play Frank and produce this with my amazing partners at Amazon, MGM, and all other producers on this epic story. Get ready for a wild ride.”
“Eric Carrasco has created a brilliant take on the super hero genre that is refreshing and honest. It explores the life of the man behind the mask and the complicated legacy he leaves behind,” says Lindsay Sloane, Head of MGM Television. “Under the leadership of creative executive Max Kisbye, I believe we will create a series that will keep audiences enthralled.”
“Rooted by a tremendous sense of civic duty and wrapped in complex family dynamics, El Gato is an unconventional yet captivating take on a familiar genre that we believe our global Prime Video customers will enjoy,” said Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios. “The incredible team behind the series including Diego Boneta, Eric Carrasco, Turi Meyer, and Alfredo Septien, as well as our colleagues at MGM Television are bringing this groundbreaking tale to life.”
Eric Carrasco is currently in post-production on the upcoming Twilight of the Gods, the animated series he co-created with Zack Snyder and Jay Oliva for Netflix. Before that, he was a co-executive producer on Foundation for Apple TV+ and has written for Masters of the Universe: Revelation, and Supergirl.
Writing and producing team Septién and Meyer have worked together for many years, most recently serving as co-executive producers on the limited series, Griselda for Netflix. Additionally they served as co-executive producers on Midnight, Texas, Vampire Diaries, Witches of East End and Salem. Meyer has also directed multiple episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville, and the Emmy Award winning series for AMC The Lot.
Boneta and his company Three Amigos, under an overall deal with Prime Video, are currently in production on the upcoming film Follow, directed by Gonzalo Tobal and starring Boneta and Martha Higareda for Prime Video. This is the first project under Three Amigos’ overall deal with Prime Video. Last year, Boneta starred in two limited series for Prime Video – Stanley, directed by Beto Hinojosa, and La Liberación directed by Alejandra Márquez Abella.
In addition to Carrasco, the series is executive produced by Boneta, Meyer, Septién, Steve Stark (Wednesday, The Handmaid’s Tale) of Toluca Pictures, Mittman (Wednesday, The Consultant) of 1.21, and Gonzalez Vargas (Luis Miguel: The Series, Libre de Reír); and co-executive produced by Kai Dolbashian (The Consultant), Marilu G. Carranza and Joel Novoa-Schneider. The series is being produced by MGM Television, a division of Amazon MGM Studios.
Production on El Gato is anticipated to begin this spring in Mexico.