Antonio Banderas to Star as Hernán Cortés in Epic Feature Film ‘Cortés,’ Directed by Paul Mignot

Antonio Banderas to Star as Hernán Cortés in Epic Feature Film ‘Cortés,’ Directed by Paul Mignot

Utopai Studios and Ex Machina Studios to co-produce and co-finance the historical epic, produced by Marco Weber and written by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nicholas Kazan

Utopai Studios and Ex Machina Studios today announced that Academy Award-nominated actor Antonio Banderas will star as Hernán Cortés in Cortés, an epic feature film directed by French filmmaker Paul Mignot from a screenplay by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nicholas Kazan.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261012447868/en/

ANTONIO BANDERAS TO STAR AS HERNÁN CORTÉS IN EPIC FEATURE FILM ‘CORTÉS,’ DIRECTED BY PAUL MIGNOT.

For more than 35 years, Kazan’s screenplay has endured as an ambitious and deeply human telling of one of history’s most consequential encounters. Now, with Banderas starring, Mignot directing and Weber producing, Utopai Studios and Ex Machina Studios are bringing the film to the screen through a new production approach that combines traditional filmmaking with next-generation production technologies.

Utopai Studios will lead sales and distribution in the United States, Canada, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, while Ex Machina Studios will lead sales and distribution across most of Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.

Set in 1519, Cortés begins in Cuba, where a restless soldier hungry for glory seizes command of an expedition to the Yucatán and sails without permission. After landing on the coast of what is now Mexico, he meets Marina, an enslaved Indigenous woman and gifted linguist who becomes indispensable to his advance. As Cortés turns fragile alliances, faith and fear into instruments of conquest, Marina watches him transform from a daring outlaw into a self-anointed messiah.

Production is already underway in Paris with additional shooting scheduled in Spain with Banderas performing the role of Cortés under Mignot’s direction.

“Cortés is exactly why we built Utopai Studios,” said Cecilia Shen, Co-Founder and CEO of Utopai Studios. “Our job is to build the production around that vision. Nicholas has written an extraordinary screenplay, Paul has a clear cinematic point of view and Antonio brings the humanity needed at the center of it. We want to give them the ability to make the film they set out to make.”

“A historical epic works best if you believe the people at the center of it,” said Marco Weber, producer of Cortés, and CEO and Co-Founder of Ex Machina Studios. “Antonio gives us a Cortés who can be commanding, complicated and deeply human, while Paul has a clear vision for the brilliant screenplay that Nick wrote. I couldn’t be more excited about the exceptional team we have put together and to bring the elements together for some breathtaking world-building in a film that feels both epic and intimate.”

Banderas earned an Academy Award nomination and won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Pain and Glory. He recently starred in A24’s Tony and will next be seen in Trudie Styler’s Up Against It. His film credits include The Mask of Zorro, Desperado, Evita, Philadelphia, The Skin I Live In and the Puss in Boots franchise. His portrayals of Pablo Picasso in Genius: Picasso and Pancho Villa in And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself each earned Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Banderas is repped by NuCo Media Group and Greenberg Glusker.

Mignot is a French director whose work spans narrative filmmaking and global campaigns. His narrative credits include the historical feature Vaincre ou Mourir and the award-winning short All Blood Runs Red. He has also directed campaigns for BMW, Porsche, Audi, Lexus, Jeep, L’Oréal, Louis Vuitton and Emporio Armani.

Kazan received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for his adapted screenplay for Reversal of Fortune. His screenwriting credits also include Frances, Patty Hearst, Matilda, Fallen and Bicentennial Man.

Additional casting and production details will be announced at a later date.

About Utopai Studios

Utopai Studios is a next-generation global entertainment studio creating original intellectual property (IP) and building new franchises across film and television. The company develops, finances and produces its own projects and partners with filmmakers, studios and rights holders on co-productions, bringing filmmaker-led production, creative infrastructure and proprietary technology together under one roof. Utopai Studios also develops and localizes IP rooted in individual markets for audiences worldwide. Directors, producers, writers, actors and artists lead its productions and retain creative control throughout the process. The company develops PAI, its proprietary cinematic storytelling engine for long-form productions, designed to maintain consistency and control across characters, worlds, scenes and sequences. Utopai Studios’ international footprint includes Utopai Studios APAC and Utopai GmbH in Germany. For more information, visit www.utopaistudios.com.

About Ex Machina Studios

Ex Machina Studios is dedicated to advancing episodic and feature-length cinema through the ethical, artist-first integration of artificial intelligence. Founded in January 2026 by media entrepreneur and producer Marco Weber, filmmaker Martin Weisz, and Pluto TV Co-Founder and former Paramount streaming head Tom Ryan, the studio is developing cinematic experiences grounded in real actors, human-authored narratives, and guild-aligned production practices. By collaborating closely with SAG-AFTRA, the DGA, the WGA, and other industry partners, Ex Machina has developed a proprietary workflow capable of reducing production costs while restoring feature filmmaking and high-concept episodic productions to a viable and profitable path for distributors and streamers worldwide.

Peter Binazeski
Utopai Studios
peter@utopaistudios.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261012447868/en/