TelevisaUnivision held the presentation of its new telenovela, El Maleficio, a remake, of the 1983 story produced by Ernesto Alonso, who, through artificial intelligence, was in charge of welcoming the attendees. The new version is produced by Jose Alberto Castro, who said they expect it to be as disruptive as it was in its first version. The story will be released Monday, November 13 at 9:30pm on Las Estrellas.
“One of the main challenges was to comply with the value in the classic El Maleficio, to have the interpretation and the structure it required. But the most complicated thing was the fine line between love and suspense” said the producer.
As for the video of the actor and producer Ernesto Alonso, known as “Mister Telenovela”, Castro said: “It was hard work being able to bring Ernesto Alonso back to life thanks to state-of-the-art technology and artificial intelligence. This will give a great deal of color and identity to the story”, and he added that the actor, who passed away in 2007, will have other participations in the plot thanks to this technology.
Meanwhile, Elias Rodriguez, Operations and Technology Director at Televisa, explained in this sense, that it took approximately six months to create this character, and that it was the first time artificial intelligence is used to revive an actor in a telenovela.
Castro added that this has been one of TelevisaUnivision’s largest bets, since “we have great competition in the different platforms, channels and contents to which the audience already has access. Having the opportunity of bringing this type of story and presenting it, we hope it can once again generate the disruption it did in 1983″.
The telenovela was set in Mexico City, as well as Washington, New York, Rome, and Toledo.
During the event, they introduced the cast, led by Fernando Colunga, Marlene Favela, Jaqueline Andere, Julián Gil, and Sofía Castro.
El Maleficio takes place around the life of Enrique de Martino, a successful, attractive, and mysterious businessman, whose greatness is framed by a dark and well-kept secret. Beatriz Almazan, on the other hand, is a woman devoted to her family, who has a generous heart. Their paths intertwine and love emerges, which shakes up Enrique’s plans.