Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera Series in Works at Netflix

Netflix is developing a TV series on the relationship between iconic Mexican artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with Patricia Riggen (“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”) and writer-director-producer Gabriel Ripstein, known for “600 Miles” and “Narcos,” on board to direct.

The untitled show will delve into their lives and explore how shifting political, social, and artistic upheavals shaped their relationship and oeuvre.

Produced by Mónica Lozano of Alebrije Producciones (“Amores Perros,” “Instructions Not Included”), the project is an adaptation of French writer Claire Berest ‘s novel “Rien n’est noir,“ translated to “The Award-Winning Novel About the Colorful and Captivating Life of Frida Kahlo.”

Writer-actor María Renée Prudencio, whose credits include “Los Adioses” and “Club Sandwich,” serves as head writer.

Said Carolina Leconte, content VP, Netflix Mexico: “The ambition of this project is unprecedented. We want to show a real Frida – a Frida who seems to step out of the screen and take you by the hand so you can live her story alongside her, during one of the most significant eras in this country: a Mexico that Frida and Diego placed on the world map.”

“It’s a daring proposal that takes us into the most intimate spaces of two figures we feel have been exhausted by myth, but whose true story we have not yet dared to face directly. At Netflix, we believe in local stories, and few are as Mexican, as overflowing, as the love – and toxicity – between Frida and Diego. It is a privilege to work on this series alongside Patricia Riggen and Gabriel Ripstein to create a Frida and a Diego who unsettle, seduce and feel more alive than ever.”

Salma Hayek, who stood beside Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum to announce the news, produced and starred in the Oscar-winning 2002 biopic, “Frida.”

The project dovetails with the objectives of the streamer, which last year announced a $1 billion investment in production over the next four years in Mexico.

It also comes as Mexico has finally announced a landmark 30% film production incentive to boost national and international projects. It complements the existing 16% VAT recovery option and the Jalisco state’s incentives.