FX Orders ‘The Border’ Pilot Based On Don Winslow’s Cartel Trilogy; E.J. Bonilla To Lead Cast

FX has given a pilot order to The Border, a drama based on the third book in Don Winslow’s bestselling Cartel Trilogy, from Daniel Zelman, (Damages, Bloodline), Shane Salerno (Salinger, Avatar sequels and FX Productions. E.J. Bonilla (The Old Man, The Long Way Home) is set to lead the cast, which also includes Frank Blake (Sanditon, Normal People), Annie Shapero (Red Skies), Sebastián Buitrón (Amsterdam, No fue mi culpa) and Luis Bordonada (Selena: The Series, Vida). Produced by FX Productions, the pilot will begin production in Mexico in 2023.

Zelman will write and serve as showrunner and executive producer along with Salerno, who adapted The Border for television with Zelman, Winslow, Diego Gutierrez, Jayro Bustamante (La Llorona, Tremors), who will direct the pilot, and Scott Free. Anabel Hernández will serve as Consulting Producer.

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The Border is an epic saga that reveals the dark truths about America’s failed 50-year war on drugs.  Taking us from the streets of New York to the poppy fields of Mexico, the jungles of Central America, and The White House, The Border  explodes the myths of the drug war through the intertwining narratives of characters on both sides of the Mexican-American border: an obsessive Mexican-American DEA agent, a young boxing promoter who inherits a drug empire, a jaded teenager who rises to power in the world of high class escorts, and an Irish kid from the streets of Hell’s kitchen who becomes a ruthless, international hitman.  We follow these characters on a raw, unflinching journey through history, as they are pulled ever deeper into the drug war and forced to confront the limits of their humanity.

Bonilla will play Art Keller; Blake portrays Sean Callan; Shapero is Nora Hayden; Buitrón plays Adan Barrera and Bordonada portrays Miguel Angel Barrera.

The three global bestsellers in the trilogy – The Power of the Dog (2005), The Cartel (2015), and The Border (2019) – have sold millions worldwide.

Bustamante has earned numerous awards for his films, including the 2019 Venice Film Festival: Winner – GdA Director’s Award, the 2019 Venice Film Festival: Winner – Best Film, and the 2015 Berlin Film Festival: Winner. He is repped by CAA and M88.

Bonilla is repped by Innovative Artists and MKSD Talent Management. Blake is repped by Curtis Brown, the Lisa Richards Agency and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher. Shapero is with Karli Doumanis at Zero Gravity Management and Collective Talent Management (Australia). Buitrón is repped by Lizzy Cancino at Jerry ML. Bordonada is with Park Noack Agency and Authentic Talent & Literary Management. Zelman, Salerno and Gutierrez are repped by CAA.

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