Netflix No 1 for Malaga author's latest blockbuster series, The Crystal Cuckoo

Javier Castillo's love affair with readers and viewers alike continues to grow. Just over a month after his book launch for The Whisper of Fire, his eighth novel, which climbed to the top of the bestseller lists, the Malaga-born writer has now achieved a double feature on Netflix with The Crystal Cuckoo ('El Cuco de Cristal'), the six-part thriller based on another of his writing successes. In just 24 hours, it has already become the most-watched series in Spain on the US platform. We will have to wait a few more days for the official viewing data on this mystery about disappearances in a small town, but the streaming service's top ten has been completely shaken up by this series' meteoric rise through the charts since last Friday, unseating another Malaga native, Pablo Alborán, and his acting debut in the second season of 'Respira', which has become known as Breathless in English.

Netflix is also capitalising on the so-called 'Javier Castillo effect', whose presence has grown on the North American platform with The Crystal Cuckoo, following the excellent viewing figures from The Snow Girl franchise, set and filmed in Malaga. Interestingly, in 2023, the same strategy was used with the premiere of the aforementioned saga being followed a few days later by the publication of The Crystal Cuckoo, which achieved the same success on the book charts, becoming a bestseller.

Catalina Sopelana, Itziar Ituño and Álex García star in the series that has been a smash hit on Netflix from the moment it was released. The story follows a young doctor who, after her life is saved by a heart transplant, feels compelled to search for her donor, unaware that her curiosity will lead her to a small town plagued by mysterious deaths and disappearances. The overwhelming public response to The Crystal Cuckoo promises to weigh in to the argument for Netflix to confirm the third and final season of The Snow Girl saga and even consider signing another contract with the Malaga-born writer for his current bestseller, The Whisper of Fire, which is also his first novel set in Spain, specifically in the volcanic landscapes of the Canary Islands.

Iván Massagué ('El Hoyo', The Platform, a sci-fi film), Alfons Nieto ('El Cuerpo en Llamas', Burning Body, a TV miniseries), Tomás del Estal ('Clanes', Gangs of Galicia) and Malaga-born Adelfa Calvo (Goya award-winner) complete the cast of this adaptation, which, like the screen version of The Snow Girl, moves the novel's action from the United States to Spain. This time, the rural settings of this story, originally set in a small town, are located in Extremadura, where the protagonist arrives after suffering a heart attack to learn the identity of her donor. There she discovers that her benefactor was a young man embroiled in an unresolved tragedy.

The adaptation of this bestseller is being driven by the same team behind the successful Snow Girl saga, as Javier Castillo and Netflix are joined by production company Atípica Films, whose founder, José Antonio Felez, recently passed away. The six-episode series of The Crystal Cuckoo is one of the posthumous titles of this producer from Madrid, who always maintained a strong connection to Andalusian productions. In addition to producing Malaga-born Castillo's work, Felez was the driving force behind Alberto Rodríguez's films: Unit 7 (2012), Prison 77 (2022) and Goya award-winner Marshland (2014).

With The Crystal Cuckoo, Netflix continues its screen adaptations of Javier Castillo's novels, whose literary success has also been mirrored in the platform's viewing figures. Thus, the first season of The Snow Girl became number one worldwide, while the sequel, called The Soul Game and released earlier this year, reached the top ten worldwide in its first week and also topped the list of most-watched series in Spain. The new series from the pen of this Malaga-born writer is now following a similar trajectory, becoming a viewer favourite within 24 hours.