‘La Fortuna‘ is an exciting multilingual adventure drama series on AMC+ that follows a young Spanish diplomat, Lex Ventura, and an American treasure hunter, Frank Wild, as they battle it out.
When Wild and his team uncover a sunken ship laden with treasure off the coast of Spain, it raises a slew of concerns, the most pressing of which is who owns the treasure.
According to the Spanish authorities, the ship is the famed La Fortuna, which sank in 1804.
Wild, on the other hand, claims ownership of the treasures, claiming that his team spent time, effort, and money identifying the ship’s wreckage.
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A violent conflict ensues, involving the governments of two countries. Treasure hunts and fascinating historical discoveries make the news so frequently that one can’t help but wonder if the series is based on true events.
You are not alone if this notion has occurred to you. Let’s investigate the situation and discover the truth for ourselves!
Is it True That ‘La Fortuna’ Based On A True Story?
‘La Fortuna‘ is somewhat based on a real story. The adventure thriller drama, co-written by Alejandro Amenábar & Alejandro Hernandez, is essentially a movie version of a graphic novel by Paco Roca and Guillermo Corral.
The graphic novel, titled ‘El Tesoro del Cisne Negro‘ (‘The Treasure of the Black Swan,’ is based on true events.
The show’s premise is eerily similar to what occurred when the American company Odyssey Marine Exploration discovered the Spanish ship Nuestra Seora de las Mercedes.
The business brought the news to light in 2007, when it airlifted tonnes of coins from Gibraltar to Florida, USA. Odyssey Marine Exploration was sentenced to pay $1 million in 2014 for “bad faith and abusive litigation” after a long court battle that concluded in Spain’s favour.
The Spanish galleon San José was another shipwreck discovery that garnered news. It sank off the coast of Colombia in the early 1700s, only to be discovered by Colombian officials near Cartagena in 2015.
However, it sparked a worldwide conflict, including Spain, the United States, and Colombia.
You might be interested to hear that Guillermo Corral, the graphic novel’s co-author, had a distinguished diplomatic career.
He was the Director-General of Policy and Cultural Industries (around the late 2000s) and the Cultural Counselor at the Spanish Embassy in Washington (reportedly from 2010-2015).
As a result, the bureaucratic framework described in the graphic novel — and, by extension, the series — appears to be based on personal experience.
Furthermore, Jonas Pierce’s character could be based on a genuine person. James Goold, the counsel for the Spanish government, played a key role in the legal battle.
Goold, based in Washington, D.C., is a seasoned attorney who has spent more than three decades at Covington & Burling LLP.
A fight for lost treasure with Stanley Tucci? Yeah, we're in. #LaFortuna premieres this Thursday on AMC+. pic.twitter.com/tTgSX7p9kK
— AMC+ (@AMCPlus) January 17, 2022
According to sources, the series’ production crew collaborated closely with a historical expert and a military counsellor, particularly to portray the early 1800s scenes as faithfully as possible.
The show, however, is a hybrid of several genres, including political thrillers, romances, legal dramas, and procedural dramas.
As a result, there is no doubt that the series’ creators have exercised some artistic licence. Despite this, it’s clear that the plot is a fictitious version of true events.
