Spy City creator William Boyd is penning a $20M series about the tragic life of Emperor Maximilian of Mexico and his wife Charlotte of Belgium for Herbert Kloiber and Constantin Film’s High End Productions.
The four-part series Maximilian and Carlota will begin filming next year in Austria, Northern Italy, France and Mexico, with a budget estimated to reach the $20M mark.
The young Hapsburg, who was Kaiser Franz Josef’s brother, and his Belgian princess allowed themselves to be persuaded by Napoleon III to sail to the other end of the world in 1864. They sought to do justice to both their own progressive ideals and the political interests of the major European powers as rulers of the Mexican people and were used as political pawns in European colonial politics.
Kloiber, who founded High End Productions earlier this year, said he had been “intrigued” by the story for more than 30 years.
“As a quick-witted political liberal, he was always perceived as a threat by the Viennese Court,” he said. “My fascination with them has stayed with me to this day and that’s why I am particularly happy that this project is about to become a reality.”
Celebrated Scottish writer Boyd most recently penned AMC+/Magenta TV mini series Spy City about Cold War spies in 1961 Berlin. He has written a wealth of award-winning novels along with adaptations for the likes of Channel 4.
