Sony Shocked by Univision Announcing 'Breaking Bad' Adaptation - No Deal's Done (Exclusive)
Univision shocked Sony on Friday when it announced plans to air a Spanish-language "Breaking Bad" adaptation -- because the studio does not have any deal with Univision to adapt the AMC methamphetamine drama.
Sony, which owns "Breaking Bad," has already called Univision to express its surprise and disappointment that the largest Spanish-language network would announce the new show, which would be called "Metastasis," as part of its lineup for next year.
Sony has shot an internal pilot for Latin American markets, which could be the first of many foreign-language "Breaking Bad" adaptations. But Sony is in talks with several potential partners, and Univision is only one of them, a person at Sony who is familiar with the situation told TheWrap.
"We have made a pilot for a Spanish version of Breaking Bad," the person said. "It's not in development with them or anything like that."
Sony has also not decided whether the project will go forward at all. It was unclear whether Univision has blown its chances with Sony by making the announcement prematurely.
Univision did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The network blasted an announcement of the show to media outlets Friday, days before it is to unveil its 2013-14 lineup to advertisers. It could now be forced to make an embarrassing correction to its schedule just before it tries to wow ad buyers in New York City.
It also announced plans for a Spanish-language adaptation of another hit American show, "Gossip Girl," to be set in Acapulco. Warner Bros. confirmed that the "Gossip Girl" adaptation is in the works.
The Spanish adaptations of the shows would continue a long tradition of offering foreign-language versions of domestic hits. The U.S. also remakes plenty of foreign shows: "Homeland," for example, is based on an Israeli format, and "The Office" based on the U.K. comedy of the same name.
"Breaking Bad" will end its five-season run this year, and the CW's "Gossip Girl" ended earlier this season.
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