Antonio Banderas Takes On Hernán Cortés in Historical Epic That Puts Conquest — and AI Filmmaking — Under the Spotlight
Paul Mignot will direct “Cortés,” a long-gestating project from screenwriter Nicholas Kazan, with a release planned for 2027.
Antonio Banderas is taking on a historical figure whose legacy demands considerably more than a commanding screen presence.
The Oscar-nominated actor will portray Hernán Cortés in Cortés, a historical epic directed by Paul Mignot and written by Nicholas Kazan. Backed by Utopai Studios and Ex Machina Studios, the film is in production and targeting a 2027 release, according to Utopai’s project announcement. Marco Weber is producing.
The casting brings international recognition to an ambitious undertaking. It also puts two consequential subjects in the same frame: the representation of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the growing use of artificial intelligence in filmmaking.
Set in 1519, the story begins in Cuba before following Cortés’ unauthorized expedition toward Yucatán. Its announced synopsis places Marina, also known as La Malinche, an enslaved Indigenous woman and gifted linguist, at the center of his advance. The narrative describes Cortés increasingly using alliances, religion and fear to consolidate power.
That description suggests a film interested in ambition and manipulation. The crucial creative question will be whose perspective shapes the experience.
A conquest epic built around a recognizable star can easily make its central figure the gravitational force of every scene. Here, the opportunity is to give Indigenous characters their own political interests, relationships and agency — allowing audiences to encounter people whose lives extend beyond their usefulness to Cortés.
Marina’s treatment will be especially revealing. Her prominence in the synopsis offers dramatic possibilities, but the finished film will need to establish how fully viewers experience her circumstances and decisions. A character can be indispensable to a plot while still receiving too little space within it.
Kazan has spent more than 30 years trying to bring the project to the screen. In Utopai’s announcement, he acknowledges the disputed and complicated nature of the history, describing the filmmakers’ aim as telling one interpretation among multiple perspectives.
That acknowledgment establishes a useful starting point. The challenge is translating it into the screenplay’s choices: who speaks, who is heard, where sympathy falls and which consequences remain visible after a battle ends.
The production’s technological approach adds another layer of scrutiny. Utopai says AI-enabled production tools will help address the scale and expense that previously prevented the film from moving forward, while filmmakers retain creative control. The company has not publicly detailed the full extent of that use.
For the industry, the proposition is significant: technology may make a previously prohibitive historical production achievable. For audiences, the more meaningful test will be whether that scale supports convincing performances, environments and storytelling. Spectacle can create a world; dramatic specificity makes it matter.
Banderas gives Cortés an established leading actor capable of attracting attention across markets. The film’s lasting value, however, will depend on how carefully it uses that attention to explore the people, competing ambitions and devastating consequences surrounding its protagonist.
A precise release date has yet to be announced.
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