Why Amazon Rebooted the ‘Ugly Betty’ Telenovela for a Global, Spanish-Speaking Audience

Reboots are a dime a dozen in Hollywood. But with the smashing success of Prime Video’s “Betty La Fea: The Story Continues,” better known in the U.S. by its English version “Ugly Betty,” Amazon found untapped enthusiasm for beloved Latin American IP over 20 years after it first aired, underlining the benefit of international expansion in the midst of the streaming wars.

Created by Fernando Gaitán for the Colombian network RCN, “Yo soy Betty, la fea” followed the adventures of Beatriz Pinzón Solano (Ana María Orozco), a secretary with braces, bad bangs and an even worse wardrobe, who falls in love with her playboy boss Armando Mendoza (Jorge Enrique Abello). The show followed Betty’s transformation from an eager assistant helping her supervisor hide financial wrongdoing, into a confident and beautiful executive who takes over as president of the clothing manufacturing company where she works — while her playboy reformed into a doting husband.

The telenovela ran continuously from October 1999 to May 2001 for a whopping 335 episodes.

Ana María Orozco in “Yo soy Betty, la fea.” (NBC/Telemundo)

Its Cinderella rom-com premise proved to be a universal success, as it became the first Latin American series to be remade worldwide. To date, 26 international adaptations have been made based on the “Betty” format — including two U.S. versions: “Ugly Betty,” which ran for four seasons (2006-2010) on ABC and landed star America Ferrera her first Emmy win, and Telemundo’s Spanish-language version for U.S. audiences titled “Betty en NYC,” in 2019.

But the original “Betty” hadn’t been seen on screen for more than two decades. So when Estudios RCN approached Amazon with the idea of bringing the eccentric cast of characters back together for a new sequel series, Prime Video executives recognized the project’s global potential.

“We were able to leverage what’s one of the most beloved characters in Latin American audiovisual history and not just reboot it, but do it in a way that was respectful and crafted for the current time,” Francisco Morales, Prime Video head of content strategy and acquisitions for Latin America, told TheWrap.

And it paid off. A week after its Prime Video two-episode premiere in July, the platform renewed its “Betty” reboot for a second season, saying it had become the most-watched title on Prime Video ever in Colombia, while also pulling in the largest global viewership for a Latin American title in the streamer’s history.

When it comes to U.S. viewership, “Betty” is among Prime Video’s top 10 Spanish language series launches — a list which also includes Spain’s romance drama “My Fault” and the TV adaptation of “Zorro,” and Colombia’s TV western “The Head of Joaquin Murrieta” — according to internal data. (Amazon does not provide specific viewership figures.)

“This creates a beautiful precedent for us in terms of how much popular IP is available [that] can be rebooted and re-energized,” Morales said.

He added that he sees both Amazon and the industry at large jumping at the chance to replicate the “Betty” reboot’s success, especially as the streaming wars have escalated a global competition, with a growing focus on international reach.

Beyond Betty

International programming broke through the American mainstream a few years ago, most notably with Oscar juggernaut “Parasite” and Netflix series like South Korea’s “Squid Game” and Colombia’s “Narcos.” Like Netflix, Amazon has spent years building up its international content divisions and launching their streaming service in over 200 countries. Both platforms led the industry in the commissioning of new movies and shows outside of the U.S. in the first quarter of 2024, according to Ampere Analysis.

The success of a reboot like “Betty” (which includes English among its 12 dubbed languages and 28 available subtitles) validates these efforts, with both Morales and Misas noting Amazon’s commitment to growing regional production efforts across the world that appeal to worldwide audiences — with highlights for Latin American titles that also include the Oscar-nominated film “Argentina, 1985” and Mexico’s crime series “Who Killed Him?”

A still from “Argentina, 1985” (Prime Video)

They also celebrated how “Betty” has brought more eyes to Latin American titles on the service across the board.

“It’s a way of demonstrating that ‘Betty’ wasn’t a hiccup,” Morales said. “I think you’re going to see [this strategy] from us, and you’re going to see it from the industry as a whole.”

Reuniting the cast

The reboot picks up with Betty and Armando more than 20 years later. Separated by a past betrayal but still very much in love, the duo is brought back together by the death of a loved one, setting off Betty’s return to Ecomoda, the company where she once started her career as a secretary. Along with familiar characters, the reboot introduced Betty and Armando’s daughter Camila (Juanita Molina), now in her 20s and with her own career aspirations at Ecomoda.

But getting a “Betty, la fea” sequel on TV was not without its challenges. Orozco previously expressed her hesitation to revisit the titular character on screen, though she reunited with the cast for a Colombian theater production based on the telenovela in 2017. Gaitán’s death in 2019 also made a new TV project seem near impossible.

But the RCN team pressed on, partnering with frequent collaborators at Prime Video and Amazon Studios to help bring the cast back together. Orozco, who had previously worked with Prime Video on the Colombian original series “Filthy Envy,” eventually agreed to return as both star and producer, alongside Abello.

Jorge Enrique Abello, Rodrigo Candamil and Ana María Orozco in “Betty La Fea: The Story Continues.” (Prime Video)

“Once Ana María was involved in the project, it became about [the rest of the cast] not wanting to miss out on the opportunity. People who had said no changed their minds,” Camila Misas, Prime Video head of local originals for Colombia, Argentina and Chile told TheWrap. “She was involved in the creative part from beginning to end.”

Along with Orozco and Abello, the reboot’s returning series regulars include Mario Duarte, Lorna Cepeda, Natalia Ramírez, Julián Arango, Ricardo Vélez, Jorge Herrera, Julio César Herrera, Marcela Posada, Estefanía Gómez and Luces Velásquez.

The story continues

Though the returning cast and some storylines rely on nostalgia for the telenovela (a shortened run of 149 episodes of the original show is currently streaming on Peacock in the U.S.), new characters and dynamics breathe life into the story — including a complicated love triangle for Camila, an AI-powered mannequin and potential love interests for both Betty and Armando.

“We did everything to make it right… we did research about other recent titles like ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘Top Gun’ that had comebacks to see what they did, what worked and what didn’t,” Misas said. “Everything was set to be a success, but you can never be too sure in television.”

The first season of the reboot followed as Betty and Armando grappled with lingering feelings while pondering divorce, and as Ecomoda got caught in another financial scandal. The Season 1 finale, released Aug. 16, set the stage for an even more dramatic Season 2, which Morales teased will premiere “sooner than you think.”