Robert Rodriguez launched his cable network El Rey last month, and today the channel officially announced details about the Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman’s series that had previously been described as a Latino James Bond drama. The series has a working title — “Matador” — and will premiere in Summer 2014.
Orci and Kurtzman (of “Sleepy Hollow,” “Fringe” and the “Star Trek” and “Transformer” franchises) will be producing a 13 hour-long episodes — “Matador” will be El Rey’s second original series after Rodriguez’s own adaptation of “From Dusk Till Dawn,” which will premiere on March 11th. Production on “Matador” will begin in Los Angeles early this year. Executive producers Jay Beattie and Dan Dworkin will serve as showrunners, and are writing the first episode, which Rodriguez will direct.
“Matador” is centered on Antonio “Matador” Bravo, a popular soccer star and playboy whose sports stardom is a cover for his other life as a covert operative executing missions for a little known branch of the CIA. He uses his notoriety as a way of getting access to powerful and villainous types, but is forced to confront questions of his true identity in balancing his dual roles. “This is exactly the kind of programming we envisioned from the get-go,” said Rodriguez. “‘Matador’ is action-packed, irreverent and kick-ass entertainment to its core.”
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