The first trailer for the upcoming Netflix series Narcos has debuted online, offering an early peek at the much-anticipated drama — and it looks like it could be something special. The ambitious new series from the streaming service-turned-production studio chronicles the brutal, international drug war of the 1980s that pitted U.S. and Colombian law-enforcement agencies against kingpin Pablo Escobar and the powerful Medellin Cartel.
Directed by Elite Squad and RoboCop filmmaker Jose Padilha, the series stars Brazilian actor Wagner Moura (also of Elite Squad, as well as Elysium) as Escobar, who became one of the wealthiest criminals of all time by trafficking cocaine and leading one of history’s most notorious drug cartels. Along with Moura’s Escobar, the series will follow real-life D.E.A. agents Steve Murphy and Javier Peña — played by Boyd Holbrook (Gone Girl) and Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones), respectively — who were tasked with bringing down Escobar.
Narcos will span 10 episodes, and feature an impressive international cast that also includes Colombian actors Juan Pablo Raba (El corazón del océano) and Manolo Cardona (Covert Affairs), British stage actress Joanna Christie (Once), Mexican actresses Stephanie Sigman (SPECTRE) and Ana de la Reguera (Nacho Libre), Brazilian actor André Mattos (Elite Squad), and Puerto Rican actor Luis Guzman (Boogie Nights).
Apart from its hearty subject matter, the series also serves as a reunion for Padilha and actors Moura and Mattos, with the former playing the lead role in Padilha’s critically praised 1997 action drama that earned a long list of awards and spawned the 2010 sequel Elite Squad: The Enemy Within.
Shot on location in Colombia, the script for Narcos was penned by Hannibal writer Chris Brancato and Law & Order: Criminal Intent writer Paul Eckstein. The series was created by Brancato, Eric Newman (Children of Men), and Carlo Bernard (Prince of Persia: the Sands of Time).
All ten episodes of Narcos are scheduled to debut Friday, August 28, on Netflix at 12:01am PT. The series will be available to Netflix subscribers anywhere the streaming service is offered around the world.
