iZen maps City of Marvels drama series

European production group iZen has optioned Eduardo Mendoza’s historical Spanish novel City of Marvels (La Ciudad de los Prodigios) for a six-part drama.

Carmen Fernández Villalba

Published in 1986 and translated into 14 languages, the book chronicles Onofre Bouvila’s journey from small-time hustler in Barcelona to one of the richest men in Spain.

The deal was brokered by NewCo Audiovisual, the Barcelona-based iZen company formed in 2018 to spearhead scripted domestic series and international coproductions.

The company recently finished filming TV movie Berenàveu a les Fosques, coproduced with Catalan channel TV3.

Catalan writer Carmen Fernández Villalba is attached to the project, which will be executive produced by Alexandre Bas, co-founder and creative director of NewCo AudioVisual.

In related scripted news, Amazon Prime Video has announced a second season of iZen’s El Cid will launch in 2021. Starring Jaime Lorente (Money Heist, Everybody Knows), season one of El Cid debuted last December.

iZen’s is also working with Netflix on the streaming giant’s first Spanish reality show, titled Insiders. iZen is now holding virtual castings for the show, details of which have yet to be revealed.