5 essential facts about the return of “The Simulators”

“I know a group of people who solve all kinds of problems. Problems that no one else can solve”: with those words, at the beginning of The Simulators, was shared the precious information about this quartet of partners who, when institutions were not enough, offered a kind of “parallel justice”. The great success turned 20 with an announcement that electrified fans of this Argentinean-born series that achieved different versions around the world: a film is underway that will be released in 2024.

A tweet from Paromount+ and a presentation video were enough for Simulators to become a trend on the networks. Since the end of its second season, in 2004, the series has raised incessant questions about when and how it would return. The central artistic team, consisting of the creator of the series, Damián Szifron, and actors Federico D'Elía, Diego Peretti, Alejandro Fiore and Martín Seefeld wanted to do so, and although other projects and different events postponed the possibility, the return has finally been confirmed.

The spin-off film of this series, which won the most important Argentine television award seven times, Martín Fierro, will be produced by VIS (a division of Paramount that creates content for the Paramount+ platform) and K&S Films (who already worked with Szifron on Wild Tales, and also produced El clan and Time for the Brave). Here are five essential facts to understand the expected return:

1) It was an (almost) instant classic

When the first season aired on the Argentine Telefé channel, it received positive public acceptance. But the phenomenon broke out with an explosive second season and repetitions — nine in total — that brought the series closer to other generations. Thus The Simulators reached social networks, both in video playback and in the appointment of unforgettable lines and countless memes, and it became a classic that Netflix added to its catalog.

“I think it will continue to transcend because its themes are not of a time or a moment,” D'Elía told the Telam agency: “These are small big things that happen to all human beings. We didn't think about it from that place, but the truth is that they were like necessary Argentine superheroes, someone who came to bring a little order,” he added about the situation in the South American country at that time, shortly after the great crisis of 2001: the story of this group and its original “simulation operations” began on March 21. 2002. International adaptations soon began.

2) Adaptations were made in Mexico, Spain, Chile and Russia

Given the unusual success of the creation of Szifron, in several countries it was considered that, rather than reproducing it, it was worth doing versions with local casts. The first was for Canal 13 in Chile, in 2005, and had a second season five years later. The leading roles included Benjamin Vicuña, Bastian Bodenhöfer, Daniel Alcaíno and Ramón Llao.

The second version was made in Spain, in 2006: a co-production by Notro Films and Sony Pictures Television International that aired on channel Cuatro. D'Elía returned to being the mercurial Mario Santos in the company of Antonio Garrido, Cesar Vea and Bruno Lastra. The series had 17 episodes in two seasons, seven fewer than the original.

The third one changed the name to Kings of the game, in Russian: it aired in 2007 with performances by Dmitri Shevchenko, Aleksandr Samoylenko, Oskar Kuchera and Aleksei Zavyalov. The latest version was the Mexican version, produced by Le Palacie for Televisa's Channel 5 and Sony on cable, with a first season in 2008 and a second season in 2009, played by Tony Dalton, Alejandro Calva, Arath de la Torre and Rubén Zamora.

3) It has a unique style of narrative and humor

The contrast between the delusional nature of the premise and the scientific method with which Santos (in charge of logistics and planning), Emilio Ravena (characterization), Gabriel Medina (research) and Pablo Lampone (technique and mobility) face operatives characterizes the particular style of The Simulators. From this clash, a sophisticated and effective humor emerges, which works perfectly on the unstable balance of these anonymous vigilantes, sometimes little adhered to the law.

Szifron's work is able to unite narratives as dissimilar as Alice in Wonderland and Mission Impossible, Sherlock Holmes and Brigade A, in stories that contain themes of social importance such as political corruption, bullying and eating disorders.

4) His fans form an active community

In September 2018 Netflix reported that The Simulators would leave the platform on the 30th. Quickly, the Association of Fans of Los Simuladores devised an operation similar to those in Santos, Ravenna, Medina and Lampone to prevent it. And he succeeded.

Netflix chat on Messenger was flooded with complaints; complaints on Twitter racked up thousands of likes. Finally, the streaming leader backed out, sneakily: he didn't make an announcement but deleted the phrase “Availability: Until 30/09/2018″ in the details of the title.

The social accounts of the fans came to form a group of 40,000 people on Facebook, but it was closed and is currently being rebuilt with about 5,000. On Twitter they usually interact with D'Elía and form a community of more than 25,000 participants.

5) The cast and the original director are back

A lot can happen in 20 years; so many things, that it's hard to think that a group of successful artists will coincide to revive an old product. However, creator Szifron and actors D'Elía, Peretti, Fiore and Seefeld managed to come together and start the Paramount+ film, which will be released in theaters in 2024 and then on that platform.

It is not yet known whether other actors from the original series will participate in the feature film, but it is speculated on that since one of the payment method accepted by the quartet was the future collaboration of its customers. Four of them even formed a B Brigade.

“I am thrilled by the reconnection with such beloved characters, with the old fellow travellers who return to play them and with an audience so affectionate and respectful that it already includes several generations,” Szifron said, commenting that he will be in charge of the new project. “Hopefully we can deliver a film that retains the freshness of the original series, incorporates the maturity of the accumulated experience and expresses some valuable idea with the power, beauty and cinematic quality that the opportunity deserves.”

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