Yahoo News Is 'El Chapo' the new 'Narcos'? American television set to air series based on Guzman's life
Joaquin Guzman is getting what he always wanted.
On Sunday, American television will air the first in a lavish series telling his life story - complete with heart-stopping drama, head-spinning intrigue, and the obligatory glamorous starlets.
The only problem is, Guzman is unlikely to be able to watch it.
For the Mexican drug lord, better known as El Chapo, is currently behind bars in New York, having been extradited to the United States on the final day of Barack Obama’s presidency – a gesture from the Mexican government, it was said, to prevent President Donald Trump from taking any credit.
Guzman, head of one of the biggest drugs cartel the world has ever known, is currently facing multiple trafficking charges plus kidnapping, torture and murder. He also stands accused of laundering billions of dollars. His next court appearance is set for May 5.
But on Sunday American viewers will come face-to-face with the fictional version of the infamous capo in what Univision, the television channel, hope will prove to be as popular a series as Narcos, the Netflix hit about Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. The show, El Chapo, will be broadcast worldwide on Netflix shortly after.
And the Univision team are hoping that their production – a collaboration between the channel’s journalists and fledgling in-house screenwriting team – will capture the imagination in the way that Narcos did.
“He wants to change the rules,” says a voice in the trailer. “He wants to be the boss of the game. They call him Shorty. And I recommend that you eliminate him.”
Mexicans are yet to react, but the series may well generate anger at the “Hollywoodisation” of such a painful tale. Many Colombians remain deeply unimpressed by Narcos, insisting that it reinforces the negative stereotypes of their country. They point out that the situation has greatly improved since Escobar was killed by police in 1994 – indeed, El Chapo was filmed in Colombia, by much of the same crew as Narcos, because the security situation in Mexico was deemed too dangerous.
And Guzman’s lawyers are already promising legal action.
“If they air this, they are immediately going to be sued,” said Andres Granados, one of Guzman’s lawyers.
“They, by necessity, need the authorisation of Mr Guzman, because he is not dead.
“With great pleasure, we have the greatest willingness to negotiate with them.”
Jose Refugio Rodriguez, another of his lawyers, said that the producers could face legal consequences for using Guzman’s name and story without his consent.
“If they are producing something that (Guzman) has not authorised, if they start attacking him, or publishing things from his private life, then there will be a legal response,” said Mr Rodriguez.
Escobar’s relatives tried a similar tactic with Netflix – resorting to writing vaguely menacing letters to the Hollywood executives behind the smash-hit series.
Roberto Escobar, who dealt with his brother’s $30 billion cocaine empire, and spent a decade in prison as a result, wrote to Netflix in July demanding a cut of their profits.
“This is a friendly request for cooperation – all we want is to make sure things are done right,” said Mr Escobar, noting that the brand name has been registered in California. “I hope you are not profiting from my show, and if you are I ask you to share some profits with us.”
His son also petitioned Netflix to be part of the team. Netflix ignored them, and are likely to do the same with any claim from Guzman's team.
Yet Guzman, reportedly inspired by the telling of Escobar’s story, has already promised the rights to his own life story. The drug lord had arranged a meeting in December 2015 with Mexican actress Kate del Castillo and Hollywood star Sean Penn, with the idea of discussing a film based on his life.
Ironically, it was this hunger for fame that is believed to have led police to Guzman’s hiding place, in January 2016.
And certainly there is plenty of drama for the Univision scriptwriters to play with.
His story – rise from a poor family in rural Sinaloa to ruthless head of an all-powerful cartel – is one of legend in Mexico. In 2001 he staged his first prison break - smuggled out of the Puente Grande maximum security prison inside a laundry basket. He bribed guards to help get him out, and some of them served time in jail as a result. It was 13 years before he was captured again.
This time, in 2014, he was put in the top security Altiplano prison. But, to the astonishment of Mexico, he escaped for a second time in July 2015 – fleeing through a mile-long tunnel dug in the showers, to the huge humiliation of the Mexican government.
He was recaptured in January 2016.
The territory he previously controlled is now witnessing a surge in violence, as rival cartels attempt to muscle in on his “patch” and take over from Guzman’s sons, running the business.
In January alone the murder rate in Sinaloa leapt more than a third – earlier this month, a man was murdered by being forced out of an airplane, flying over a small town. Nationwide 1,938 people have been killed as of the beginning of this month as the rival cartels battled it out, according to the Mexican authorities - putting 2017 on track to be one of the deadliest years in a decade.
In Sinaloa, 900 soldiers were sent to the region in early April - joining 1,300 military police officers that have reinforced municipal police forces since January.
“We’re not judging him; we’re not making him either a hero or a villain,” said Marco de la O, the 38-year-old Mexican actor who plays Guzman, and shows a striking resemblance to the drug lord. “We’re telling a true story, so that the viewer can make their own mind up.”
De la O defended the series against accusations that it was profiting from the estimated 100,000 people who have died in Mexico’s drug wars since 2006.
“There are lots of people who haven’t had the same sense of responsibility as this series has – who only want to produce something which sells,” he said.
“I’m glad that there’s work for my compatriots, but I don’t think you should play games with the issue of narcotrafficking and the deaths that has caused – and, even less so, make those behind it into aspirational figures.
“We’ve avoided the tendency that us Latinos have – to create heroes.”
He said he had had to read extensively to prepare for the role, given that much of the media coverage has focused on his later life. The script he was handed was the result of three years of research, based on meetings with journalists who covered the drug enterprise, acquaintances, DEA reports and psychological profiles of Guzman compiled in prison.
“It was a challenge to play Chapo, because of his complexity,” he said.
Gerardo Reyes, Univision research director, who worked as an adviser on the show, said Guzman’s life had borne remarkable variety. The final script ended up being a combination of reality and fiction.
“I have never known of a drug trafficker who has had such a long career, and from each stage of his life are accounts that have allowed us to construct a portrait of his personality and characteristics,” he said.
“We have avoided the Robin Hood image that many have wanted to project.
“He came from a poor background and was obsessed with not returning to it, and this obsession was also violent.”
The cast are currently filming the rest of the three-series show, which will cover his life in three chapters of around eight episodes each, from his rise in the 1980s to his peak power, and his ultimate downfall.
And this is expected to be just the first of many Chapo chronicles.
Del Castillo is yet to reveal details of her project.
But other films in the works include The Cartel, with the Oscar-nominated director of Gladiator, Ridley Scott, involved.
Sony Pictures is also working on Hunting El Chapo, with Transformers director Michael Bay tipped to direct.
