Jane the Virgin alum Gina Rodriguez is set to executive produce and star in Apple TV+‘s upcoming adaptation of the 1988 Spanish black comedy film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
As first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Apple has optioned the rights to develop a television series based on Pedro Almodóvar’s Oscar-nominated movie. Rodriguez will play Pepa, a frustrated voice actor who dubs foreign films. The series is expected to feature a mixture of English and Spanish, according to THR sources.
Almodovar will serve as executive producer under his El Deseo banner alongside Rodriguez and Molly Breeskin for Rodriguez’s I Can and I Will Productions. Eugenio Derbez and Ben Odell of 3Pas Studios will also exec produce, while Sonia Gambaro will co-produce. Noelle Valdivia (Masters Of Sex) is on board as a writer. Lionsgate TV will produce the series.
The original film, which starred Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas, follows Pepa as she goes on a journey to find out why her boyfriend left her, meeting a variety of eccentric characters along the way. It received a Best Foreign Language Film nomination at the 61st Academy Awards and picked up five Goya Awards, including Best Film and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Maura.
In 2010, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was adapted into a Broadway musical by David Yazbek and Jeffrey Lane. While the show was nominated for three Tony Awards, it received mostly negative reviews and closed in January 2011. An updated production transferred to London in 2015, where it garnered better reviews and two Laurence Olivier Award nominations, though it closed in May of that year.
Rodriguez is best known for her titular role in the popular CW romantic comedy-drama Jane the Virgin. Her other TV credits include The Bold and the Beautiful, Big Mouth, and Diary of a Future President. She most recently starred in the Netflix sci-fi film Awake and will next be seen in the Amazon Studios rom-com I Want You Back.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, TBA, Apple TV+