El Último Dragón, which began shooting on November 12, is probably the most ambitious project that has arrived at W Studios, explained Vincenzo Gratteri, Content director at W Studios.
“It is a story written by Arturo Pérez Reverte, an original story he wrote for us. It is not an adaptation of one of his books,” he clarified.
The story will be shot in Japan, Spain, the US and in Mexico. “This is a more complex shooting process, it will take 34 weeks. The protagonist is a man raised in Japan with samurai ethics, but with spicy, Mexican blood.”
Gratteri pointed out that for 2019 they have some four or five projects in different stages of development (two of them are shorter projects and the others are more traditional).
He also explained that at first, when W Studios was born, in the content team led by Laura Wills, the aim was to try to develop stories with topics on drug dealing and action. However, the trend has gradually changed. We feel the success of Amar a Muerte is a very strong signal of where to aim, the rediscovery of melodrama, of love stories told with a more elegant, sophisticated aesthetics.”
According to Gratteri, the mission is to make products that can be successful in both sides of the border, on Televisa in Mexico, and on Univision. “It is not an easy challenge, because the US audiences´ preferences and trends can also vary a bit in relation to those of the Mexican audience.”