The Eternaut (TV series)

The Eternaut (El Eternauta) is an upcoming Argentine television series created by Bruno Stagnaro, based on the comic of the same name by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López. Produced by Netflix and K&S Films, the series centers around a group of survivors of a deadly snowfall powered by an alien invasion.

Premise
After a deadly snowfall that kills millions, Juan Salvo along with a group of survivors fight against an alien menace, controlled by an invisible force.

Background
In 1968, advertisement production company Gil & Bertolini acquired the rights to The Eternaut to make an animated television series, to be presented at the First World Comic Book Biennial. Each episode would be introduced by Oesterheld himself, and the animation would be rotoscoped, a very expensive technique at the time. The project was cancelled after the production of a 24-minute pilot.

For the following twenty years, financial and copyrights problems prevented different adaptations of The Eternaut for film and television. Argentine directors such as Fernando "Pino" Solanas and Gustavo Mosquera expressed their interest on adapting the material, as did Adolfo Aristarain. At the time, Aristarain said that the only way to produce the film would be in English, given it would cost at least US$10–15million and American actors would be conditional to get the necessary funds from American production companies, but "that wouldn't be the correct way" because he considered Argentine culture an integral part of The Eternaut.

In 1995, there was a miniseries project led by an important TV network from Buenos Aires, with special effects in charge of computer animation company Aicon. A preliminary contract had been signed with a big Hollywood studio. In 2007, an Italian production company worked on an adaptation of The Eternaut, in agreement with the Oesterheld's widow and grandsons. It entered negotiations with Argentine studios and the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) for a possible co-production. In 2008, director Lucrecia Martel was summoned for a film adaptation of The Eternaut. She worked on the script for a year and a half, which would take place in the present day, but the Oesterheld family considered it strayed too far from the source material, the producers stepped down and the project went stagnant. In 2018, Spanish filmmaker Álex de la Iglesia expressed interest in making an adaptation, with actor Ricardo Darín on board to star in the project.

Production
In February 2020, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings announced they would produce a series adaptation of The Eternaut, directed by Bruno Stagnaro with filmmaker Martín Oesterheld —the author's grandson– as a consultant. Héctor Oesterherld's heirs required the series to be filmed in Buenos Aires and spoken in Spanish. The series was set to be released between late 2021 and early 2022.

In August 2021, Netflix Vice President for Latin American Content Francisco Ramos assured that the project was still moving forward, but that the series wouldn't be released before 2023 due to complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ramos detailed the development of the screenplay as well as the "technological and technical design" of the series, which he described as "one of the most ambitious Latin American projects in Spanish ever made".

In February 2023, The Eternaut was one of the projects selected for the BA Cash Rebate program for international productions filming in Buenos Aires, receiving up to 20% of expenses. In March, Ricardo Darín was revealed to be in negotiations to star in the series, and he confirmed his involvement in April. Darín also said the series would be "an updated version" with a broader reach than local audiences.

Filming began in Buenos Aires in May 2023. The cast was announced to include Carla Peterson, César Troncoso, Andrea Pietra, Ariel Staltari, Marcelo Subiotto, Claudio Martínez Bel, Orianna Cárdenas, and Mora Fisz. In June 2023, scenes were shot at the Avenida General Paz, the limit between Vicente López Partido and Buenos Aires neighborhoods Núñez and Saavedra. The sets featured snow, armed soldiers, and old cars. Further filming at Saavedra took place in October 2023.

In November 2023, it was reported that filming was delayed due to Darín's busy schedule. Shooting continued with the rest of the cast, while Peterson had already finished filming her scenes. Filming concluded in December 2023.

Release
The series has a tentative 2024 release date, and it will consist of six episodes.