Rubí is a Spanish-language television series written by Leonardo Padrón and produced by W Studios for Televisa, and Univision. It is a reboot based on the 2004 Mexican telenovela of the same name, and the third production of the “Fábrica de sueños” franchise. The series premiered first in the United States on 21 January 2020 on Univision, and ended on 27 February 2020 with a total of 26 episodes. It stars Camila Sodi as the title character.
Premise
The story revolves around a young journalist named Carla (Ela Velden) who convinces Rubí (Camila Sodi), a mysterious woman who lives in a dark mansion, to tell the story of her life and why she isolated herself from the outside world out of free will. It is there that we find out that Rubí was an ambitious woman of humble origins determined to use her impressive beauty and female gimmicks to escape poverty and achieve fame, regardless of whether she harmed innocent people to achieve it.
Cast
The cast and character were revealed by People en Español magazine in September 2019 and January 2020 respectively.
Main
- Camila Sodi as Rubi Perez Ochoa, she is an ambitious woman who uses her beauty to obtain benefits. And Hector Ferrer’s former wife
- José Ron as Alejandro Cardenas, he is a cardiologist and Rubí’s first love.
- Rodrigo Guirao as Hector Ferrer Garza, he is a famous architect, former fiance of Maribel and later Rubí’s husband.
- Kimberly Dos Ramos as Maribel de la Fuente, she is Rubí’s former best friend and Hector’s ex-fiance
- Ela Velden as Carla Rangel / Fernanda Perez Ochoa, she is a journalist and Rubi’s niece who years later grows up and pretends to be Carla Rangel in order to obtain information from her aunt.
- Valery Saís as Child Fernanda
- Tania Lizardo as Cristina Perez Ochoa, Rubi’s sister.
- Marcus Ornellas as Lucas Fuentes Morab he is a famous clothing designer who becomes obsessed with the beauty of Rubi
- Lisardo as Arturo de la Fuente, Maribel’s father.
- Alejandra Espinoza as Sonia Aristimuno, Alejandro’s ex-fiance
- María Fernanda García as Rosa Ortiz de la Fuente, Maribel’s mother.
- Henry Zakka as Boris, Rubí’s bodyguard.
- Rubén Sanz as Prince Eduardo of Spain
- Alfredo Gatica as Loreto Mata, Rubi’s best friend.
- Giuseppe Gamba as Napoleon, Alejandro’s best friend.
- Antonio Fortier as Cayetano Gómez, he is Arturo’s driver and Cristina’s boyfriend.
- Paola Toyos as Queca Gallardo, she is a famous blogger who writes scandals about the lives of famous entrepreneurs.
- Mayrín Villanueva as Refugio Ochoa de Perez, Rubi and Cristina’s mother.
Guest stars
- Gerardo Murguía as Dr. Mandieta, he is the director of the private university where Rubi studied.
- Juan Soler as Hector Ferrer Garza, Hector’s father.
Production
In July 2019, W Studios and Lemon Films began development on a new remake of the 2004 hit Mexican drama Rubí with Carlos Bardasano as producer. Previously in May 2019 Bardasano confirmed that the new adaptation would be a remake, but that in turn would be a sequel and clarifying that: “The story will not only address those aspects known to the public, but will explore what happened to the character years after.” The filming of the series officially began on 20 July 2019, and concluded at the beginning of October 2019 in Madrid, Spain. The main theme song of the series is “¿A quién le importa?”, is performed by Sodi, who’s aunt, Thalía, had covered years prior.
Reception
The series received both positive and negative reviews from the audience. Sodi’s performance was compared to that of Bárbara Mori’s from the 2004 adaptation. It premiered on 21 January 2020 in the United States with a total of 1.66 million total viewers (P2 +) and had a total of 749 thousand adults between 18–49 years, being the best debut of a Univision fiction at 10 p.m. since 2017. With respect to its competition El Señor de los Cielos, the series obtained good ratings.
Ratings
U.S. ratings
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | Avg. viewers (millions) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) |
Date | Viewers (millions) |
||||
| 1 | Mon–Fri 10pm/9c | 26 | 21 January 2020 | 1.66 | 27 February 2020 | 1.99 | 1.55 |
Mexico ratings
| Season | Timeslot (CT) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | Avg. viewers (millions) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) |
Date | Viewers (millions) |
||||
| 1 | Mon–Fri 9:30pm | 27 | 15 June 2020 | 3.6 | 21 July 2020 | 4.8 | 3.74 |
Episodes
| No. | Title | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “El primer encuentro” | 21 January 2020 | 1.66 |
| 2 | “Noticia inesperada” | 22 January 2020 | 1.52 |
| 3 | “Hombre equivocado” | 23 January 2020 | 1.48 |
| 4 | “El hombre rico” | 24 January 2020 | 1.40 |
| 5 | “El peor amigo” | 27 January 2020 | 1.54 |
| 6 | “Celos incontrolables” | 28 January 2020 | 1.52 |
| 7 | “Amante descarado” | 29 January 2020 | 1.48 |
| 8 | “Esposo peligroso” | 30 January 2020 | 1.45 |
| 9 | “Nuevo comienzo” | 31 January 2020 | 1.21 |
| 10 | “Falsas disculpas” | 3 February 2020 | 1.65 |
| 11 | “Ataque inesperado” | 5 February 2020 | 1.44 |
| 12 | “La trampa perfecta” | 6 February 2020 | 1.47 |
| 13 | “Traición peligrosa” | 7 February 2020 | 1.48 |
| 14 | “Desaparecida” | 10 February 2020 | 1.61 |
| 15 | “La peor mujer” | 11 February 2020 | 1.51 |
| 16 | “Paternidad” | 12 February 2020 | 1.51 |
| 17 | “Nueva familia” | 13 February 2020 | 1.59 |
| 18 | “Noticia impactante” | 14 February 2020 | 1.48 |
| 19 | “Video prohibido” | 17 February 2020 | 1.59 |
| 20 | “Triste adiós” | 18 February 2020 | 1.61 |
| 21 | “La nueva viuda” | 19 February 2020 | 1.50 |
| 22 | “Sin herencia” | 21 February 2020 | 1.66 |
| 23 | “Rechazada” | 24 February 2020 | 1.65 |
| 24 | “Amor inesperado” | 25 February 2020 | 1.65 |
| 25 | “Atrapados” | 26 February 2020 | 1.66 |
| 26 | “Viejos amigos” | 27 February 2020 | 1.99 |