AREQUIPA, Peru – The streaming platform Netflix will premiere on September 19 a series of just nine episodes that will be based on the murder of José Menéndez, a highly successful Cuban businessman in the United States.
Titled Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menendez (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story), the production will follow the perspective of the two parricidal brothers, protagonists in real life of one of the most mediatic crimes of the last decades.
The series will follow the success of its predecessor Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story)who followed the actions a couple of years ago of the famous murderer between 1978 and 1991.
Under the direction of Ryan Murphy, who was in charge of bringing other hits to the small screen such as American Horror Story, Feud and Glee (The Chorus)Dahmer’s adaptation received four nominations at the Golden Globe Awards and three nominations at the Satellite Awards.
Just two months after its premiere, in November 2022, Netflix announced the renewal of the series for two more seasons, in which the protagonists will be other serial killers. The story of José Menéndez and his children is the first sequel of the anthology.
Among the cast of actors who will bring the story to life is Javiern Bardem, an Oscar winner who will play the Cuban patriarch José Menéndez, who gained notoriety as president of Ariola, a record division belonging to the multinational RCA.
On September 4, the platform published a trailer on Youtube and social media, noting in the video description that the series would address “the complex dynamics of the Menendez family and questions who the real monsters were, by analyzing whether the brothers acted out of fear and desperation after years of abuse, or if it was a cold-blooded murder motivated by money and unbridled greed.”
Without giving away spoilers, the Menendez case reached the California Supreme Court and found a verdict in 1996, becoming a cautionary tale about the limits of human greed and family values.
José Menéndez was born on May 6, 1944 in Havana, part of a wealthy family. After the triumph of the revolution by Fidel Castrowhich became a dictatorship, the Cuban arrived in the United States in the 60s, while still a minor of 16 years old.
From then on he developed several businesses, although he always harbored the idea of running for the Senate and becoming the first man of Cuban origin to reach such a high level.
While his political career never came to fruition, his corporate rise was quite remarkable. In New York he began working at RCA as president of Ariola, the record division. It was he who signed popular artists such as Duran Duran and Eurythmics, and was also responsible for introducing the boy band Puerto Rican Menudo to American audiences, where the renowned singer Ricky Martin came from.
