Our first look at Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of one of the greatest novels of all time

It’s got one of the most iconic opening lines in all of printed literature. The New York Times once opined that it ought to be required reading for the entire human race. And now, One Hundred Years of Solitude — the masterpiece of a novel by Gabriel García Márquez, which has sold tens of millions of copies since its publication in 1967 — is meeting the fate that’s apparently destined to befall all great literary works: A Netflix adaptation is on the way, for which a first teaser trailer has just been released.

The celebrated novel’s adaptation is part of a wave of book-to-series releases that have become streaming hits, recent examples of which include Netflix’s Ripley and 3 Body Problem. In many ways, though, adapting One Hundred Years of Solitude — which earned Márquez the Nobel prize — is a risky and far more ambitious undertaking for Netflix, given that it remains such a highly regarded and influential story that the BBC once described as having redefined Latin America. No pressure, right?

Fans of the work, perhaps, can be heartened by the fact that Netflix’s 16-episode episode series was shot in Márquez’s native Colombia, filmed entirely in Spanish, and produced with the support of the writer’s family. One Hundred Years of Solitude also represents, if we’re honest, a refreshing change of pace from the kind of streaming content that streamers like Netflix tend to gravitate to most often from this part of the world; it was only a few months ago, for example, that the super-violent cartel drama Griselda was the #1 Netflix series on the entire streaming service.

Breathtaking in its scope and in the power of its “magical realism,” the Márquez story that Netflix is bringing to life is, in its most basic sense, a multi-generational family drama. Two cousins, José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán, married against the wishes of their parents and leave their village to embark on a long journey in search of a new home. Continues Netflix: “Accompanied by friends and adventurers, their journey culminates with the founding of a utopian town on the banks of a river of prehistoric stones that they (name) Macondo.

“Several generations of the Buendía lineage will mark the future of this mythical town, tormented by madness, impossible loves, a bloody and absurd war, and the fear of a terrible curse that condemns them, without hope, to one hundred years of solitude.”

Check out the first teaser trailer for the series below.