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The epic saga of legendary conquistador Hernan Cortes is coming to Amazon!
Deadline reports that Amazon Studios has given the green light to Cortes, a four-hour miniseries from Steven Spielberg and Schindler’s List scribe Steven Zaillian with Oscar-winner Javier Bardem set to star in the title role. Wasting no time, the streaming company handed out a straight-to-series order for the high-profile project, which is based on a 50-year-old script by blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, who died in 1976.
Trumbo’s original script, penned in the 1960s (a decade after he was blacklisted as part of the Hollywood Ten) explored the relationship between Cortes and the Aztec emperor Montezuma. The Amazon miniseries, per The Hollywood Reporter, will revolve around Hernan Cortes, who led a rebellious expedition to the heart of King Montezuma II’s Aztec empire, connecting two civilizations for the first time and changing the course of history.
![](https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/spielberg-and-javier-bardem.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=300 300w, https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/spielberg-and-javier-bardem.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=640 640w, https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/spielberg-and-javier-bardem.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1280 1280w, https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/spielberg-and-javier-bardem.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=618 618w, https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/spielberg-and-javier-bardem.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1236 1236w)
It is still unclear if Spielberg will direct the project, but he joins Amblin Television as an executive producer.
“It is a privilege to tell this epic story — one that is full of drama and conflict within this huge, historical spectacle where two distant civilizations clash at the height of their reign,” Bardem said. “The best and worst of human nature came to life in all its light and darkness. As an actor, there is no better challenge than to serve such a unique project that I have been passionate about for years, and I am thrilled to be working with this dream team of Steven Spielberg, Steven Zaillian, and Amazon.”