Since its premiere on April 30, 2025, the series “The Eternaluta” In Netflix he triggered an unprecedented cultural phenomenon in Argentina and captured the attention of the international public. With 10.8 million visualizations in just eight days, it was positioned as the third most seen globally and the first one in Spanish, only behind the premiere of “The four stations”starring Steve Carell with 11.9 million views and the fifth season of “You” (10.9 million), according to Netflix data. In turn, the series was number one in thirteen countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Italy, Panama, Paraguay, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela, and reached the top ten in 87, totaling 58.3 million hours of visualization.
But this explosion of figures not only generated dividends to the N platform, but also motivated a economic impact of more than 41,000 million pesos In the Argentine economy, according to a study by Empiria consultants together with Netflix teams. The report, developed in the last hours, used an input-product model to calculate the effects of direct and indirect spending on the value chain. This type of measurement revealed how the project not only mobilized resources towards audiovisual production but also impacted linked sectors such as transportation, hotel, logistics, catering, scenographic construction and technical services.
Net profit
The first season of “El Eternalauta” (the second one was confirmed, which is only in writing process) cost 15 million dollars, a superlative figure for the standards of the Argentine audiovisual, but in turn much lower than the budget handled by the large world series, which compete with that of Stagnaro in the ranking. “The squid game” cost 20 million per chapter, “Stranger Things”30 million per episode and tanks “House of the Dragon” and “The rings of power”200 and 485 million respectively, but per season.
Other figures say that for the realization of “El Eternalauta” two years of development and writing of scripts were taken, four and a half months of preproduction, 148 days of filming in Buenos Aires and more than a year and a half of post production. The project included more than 50 locations and 35 virtual scenarios, and involved 2900 people between cast and extras. Another curious fact is that more than 500 masks were used for all the characters.
“In the midst of its production, Bruno Stagnaro and his work team ran into the pandemic, and what seemed to be a stumbling Adrián Monserrat, film critic and member of the Association of Cinematographic Chroniclers of Argentinaconsulted by news.
“The Eternaluta”created by Héctor Germán Oesterheld And the drawings of Francisco Solano López In 1957, it is an emblematic work of the Argentine comic. The series maintains the essence of the original story, which tells an alien invasion in Buenos Aires through a toxic snowfall, but introduces significant changes. The plot is currently, and the protagonist, Juan exceptplayed by Ricardo Darín, is a veteran of the Malvinas War, adding a new dimension to the character.
Immediate success
The cultural impact of the series has been officially recognized. In fact Ricardo Darín was declared “Emeritous Personality of Culture” and the series was declared of “Cultural Interest” by the Ministry of Culture of the Nation, highlighting its artistic value and its contribution to the Argentine cultural heritage.
But the series not only brought back a classic of the Argentine cartoon, but reconstructed a vibrant portrait of national identity through gestures, objects, music and scenes that perspire Argentine. From the start, the story is anchored in the intimacy of the trick, a game par excellence of the national heritage, with Juan Salvo and his refugee friends in a basement, recreating that porteña communion between mates, pica and complicity. But there is more, the series works on the concept that “the old works.” That idea appears in small large symbols: an indestructible stagnant that survives the mortal snow, old radio equipment that allows communicating when everything else fails, and even a trail of the 80s that protects better than cutting -edge technology. This concept of rescue of the above connects with the aesthetic and narrative universe that Stagnaro had already explored in “Okupas”, a series with which “the eternal” shares DNA in his portrait of urban marginality and collective resistance.
Homeland symbols
Music, cured in detail, also reinforces that deep Argentine. Issues of Gardel, Mercedes Sosa, Soda Stereo, Gilda, Hermetic, Spinetta (through rabid fish) and He killed a motorized policeman They draw an emotional map that covers decades of popular history. “Each song has its tour and its story. There is nothing at random,” Stagnaro explained. There are even sound winks to key scenes of “Okupas”, closing a circle of references that fans capture with emotion.
There are also mentions of Malvinas War, the cacerolazos, Diego Maradona and the culture of the endurance, in a country where everyday gestures become epic. As for its literal translation and the dubbing of various languages that Netflix performs for its global visualization, some challenges such as references to the Falkland Islands were presented in the series, which were not turned into “Falklands”, because according to its translator Daiana Estefanía Díaz “no Argentine, whether real or fictional, would call them otherwise.”
Adrián Monserratin his analytical eagerness about Argentine cinema, he emphasizes: “The greatest success of ‘The Eternaluta’ is to bring the original story to these times, a post -pandemic world, which makes fiction contemporary, close and universal. It is not so science fiction, but more than one remembers having taken to the street with mask, fear and alone.” And adds: “And The key was to select Ricardo Darín as the visible face of the project Despite being greater than the original character, since Juan except in the cartoon is about 40 years old. “The Argentine actor increased his international scope for more than two decades thanks to Argentine titles nominated for the Oscar as” The Secret of her eyes “,” Wild Stories “and” Argentina 1985 “, and that facilitated and amplified the successful final result.
However, there is something that Argentines cannot escape and it is the crack. Therefore, it is understood that the series has generated opinions found among journalists. Carlos Boyero, a Spanish critic, confessed that he had to activate the subtitles to understand the Argentine accent and criticized the lack of tension in the narrative, although he praised Darín’s performance. Luis Majul He expressed criticism of the series, considering it a production with Kirchner dyes, which has fed the political debate around the work. The “La Cornisa” driver declared: “The series is interesting. But now, a message for the creators. Try to set limits on the brutal use they are making of the series, as they can. Ricardo Darín is intelligent, he will know how to do it.” In turn, Luis Novaresio He called it “slow”, while the prestigious film critic Guillermo Couru He described it in the newspaper La Nación with four stars (about five), pointing out that “lets see more.”
“The Eternaluta” It has transcended its origin as a comic to become a social phenomenon. And not only revitalized interest in a classic work of Argentine graphic literature, but has also generated a debate on national identity, memory and politics.
Image gallery
