Many telenovelas are produced as pilots that never air on television or in any medium. The scope of this article is to list telenovelas that were officially and unofficially announced to be broadcast, but then cancelled prior to the scheduled debut on the original network or before the very beginning of filming. Shows are listed in alphabetical order with the slated year of debut (plus timeframe, or specific premiere date, where applicable), known cast and plot information, the reason for cancellation (if known), and what happened to the series after cancellation.
A[]
- Amor secreto (2005)
- Mexican telenovela ordered by TV Azteca in 2005. Not much was known about the story, although Silvia Navarro and David Zepeda were reserved for the main roles. The project was later cancelled.
B[]
- Barba azul (2016)
- Brazilian telenovela planned by Antonio Calmon in 2016 for Rede Globo. The first draft was deemed unsatisfactory by Silvio de Abreu, the chief of Globo's TV department and the project was cancelled. Bruna Marquezine, Murilo Benicio, Cláudia Raia and Klebber Toledo were reserved for the telenovela.
C[]
- Como agua y aceite (2016)
- Mexican telenovela planned by producer MaPat for Televisa in 2016. It was supposed to be a remake of 2002 Mexican telenovela 'La otra'. Michelle Renaud, Dulce María, Ariadne Díaz, Camila Sodi and Ana Brenda Contreras were mentioned for the main female protagonist. Juan Diego Covarrubias, Brandon Peniche, Eugenio Siller and Pablo Lyle were mentioned for the main male role, with Peniche having the best chances to remain in the role. MaPat changed her mind after a few auditions and decided to remake 1961 telenovela 'Estafa de amor'. So in 2016, 'Corazón que miente' premiered instead.
- Coraje (2007)
- Mexican telenovela ordered by TV Azteca. It was an adaptation of 2004 Argentine telenovela 'Padre coraje'. It was supposed to replace Azteca's 'Montecristo' on the schedule. The pilot episode was filmed in 2006 and the main roles went to Christian Sancho and Adriana Louvier. The remaining cast was Cecilia Ponce, Daniel Elbittar, Rafael Sánchez Navarro, Patricia Bernal etc. After the review of the pilot episode, the project was cancelled by Azteca.
G[]
- Gavilán y Paloma (2006)
- Mexican telenovela ordered by TV Azteca in 2006. It was supposed to be a remake of 1998 Argentine telenovela 'Muñeca brava'. Actors Daniel Elbittar and Stephanie Cayo were confirmed in the main roles. The project was later cancelled due to producers abandonning the project and a year later Azteca's main rival Televisa did the remake under the name 'Al diablo con los guapos'.
- Gutierritos (2014)
- Mexican original telenovela planned by Emilio Larrosa for Televisa in 2014. After complete failure of his telenovela 'Libre para amarte' in 2013, Larrosa decided to make an original story for his next project. Ernesto Laguardia, Itatí Cantoral and Ana Bekoa were mentioned for the main roles. The project finally didn't get the green light from Televisa.
J[]
- Jogo da memória (2016)
- Brazilian telenovela planned by writer Licia Manzo for Rede Globo in 2016. It was an original story and the main theme was incest between a half-brother and a half-sister. The project was cancelled in mid-2017 by Silvio de Abreu. Alice Wegmann, Adriana Esteves, Daniel Rocha, Andréa Beltrão, Drica Moraes, Alexandre Nero and Murilo Benício were in the main cast.
L[]
- La calle de las novias (2014)
- Mexican telenovela ordered by TV Azteca in 2014. It was a remake of Azteca's telenovela by the same name ('La calle de las novias'), filmed in 2000. Alejandra Lazcano and Leonardo García were reserved for the main roles. Telenovela was scheduled to replace 'Siempre tuya Acapulco' in late 2014, however the project was abruptly cancelled.
- Las tierras de tu amor (2016)
- Mexican telenovela planned by producer Carlos Moreno by Televisa in 2016. It was a remake of 2008 Colombian telenovela 'La dama de Troya'. It was supposed to replace 'Las Amazonas' on Televisa's channel Las Estrellas. Ana Brenda Contreras, Laura Carmine and Alejandra Lazcano were mentioned for the main female role and Ignacio Casano, Alfonso Dosal, Erik Hayser and Daniel Arenas were mentioned for the main male role. The project was cancelled and Moreno moved to another project, a short telenovela 'Sin rastro de ti'.
- Llegar a ti (2006)
- American telenovela ordered by Telemundo in 2006. Not much was known about the story, although Lorena Rojas was set to star in it. The remaining cast was Catherine Siachoque, Ivan Cabrera, Paola Rey, Pablo Azar and others. The project was later cancelled, although Rojas and Siachoque were moved to similar project, Telemundo's 'Pecados ajenos'.
M[]
- Madre sustituta (2016)
- Mexican telenovela planned by producer Giselle Gonzalez in 2013. It was an original story about surrogate mothers. José Ron and Esmeralda Pimentel were set to star in it. Deemed not appropriate for the schedule, Televisa cancelled the project.
- Mariana (2016)
- Mexican telenovela planned by producer Nathalie Lartilleux for Televisa in 2016. It was supposed to be a remake of 1979 Mexican telenovela 'Los ricos tambien lloran'. Maite Perroni and Ana Brenda Contreras were mentioned for the main role. However, Lartilleux abandoned the idea and decided to remake Azteca's 'La hija del jardinero' so in 2016, 'Un camino hacia el destino' premiered instead.
- Mirada de mujer (2013)
- Mexican telenovela planned by producer Nicandro Díaz González in 2013. It was an adaptation of 1993 Colombian classic telenovela 'Señora Isabel'. Erika Buenfil, Leticia Calderón, Lucía Méndez and Daniela Romo were mentioned for the main role. In late 2013, the project was cancelled by Televisa.
- Mujeres de arena (2013)
- Mexican telenovela ordered by TV Azteca in 2011. It was an adaptation of Rede Globo's classic telenovela 'Mulheres de areia'. Gabriela Spanic was reserved for the role of twin sisters Ruth and Raquel, although actress Alejandra Lazcano was also mentioned for the roles. In late 2013, the project was cancelled by Azteca and writer Eric Vonn was instructed to write an original story.
N[]
- Nube y la chica azul (2018)
- Mexican telenovela ordered by Televisa in 2018. It was a remake of Argentine teen telenovela 'Nini'. 'Nube y la chica azul' was scheduled to replace Televisa's telenovela 'Y mañana será otro día' in September 2018. The telenovela starred Renata Notni in the main role with Leticia Calderón also attached to the project. The chief of Televisa' dramaturgy decided to cancel the project three days before the start of filming the show.
O[]
- O homem errado (late 2017)
- Brazilian telenovela ordered by Rede Globo in 2016. It was an original story by Thelma Guedes and Duca Rachid. 'O homem errado' was scheduled to replace Globo's telenovela 'A força do querer' in October 2017. The telenovela starred Mariana Ximenes, Cauã Reymond and Sérgio Guizé. The chief of Globo's dramaturgy decided to cancel the project because the first draft of the script was deemed unsatisfactory.
P[]
- Perla negra 2 (2007)
- Argentine telenovela planned by actress and producer Andrea del Boca. 'Perla negra 2' was supposed to be a continuation of popular 1994 Argentine telenovela 'Perla negra'. However, no channel express interest for the project and the idea was subsequently abandoned.
- Polvorita (2005)
- American telenovela ordered by Telemundo in 2005. Not much was known about the story, although Stephanie Cayo and Erick Elias were reserved for the main roles. The project was later cancelled.
Q[]
- Quince (2020)
- Mexican telenovela planned by Televisa. 'Quince' was supposed to be a remake of a popular 1987 teen telenovela 'Quinceañera'. Macarena Achaga, Ela Velden, Danilo Carrera and Vadhir Derbez were all set to star, however the project was cancelled in October of 2019. Alejandra Barros, Nailea Norvind and Ernesto Laguardia were also confirmed in unspecified roles.
R[]
- Raices de amor (2016)
- Mexican telenovela planned by producer Nicandro Díaz González for Televisa. It was supposed to be a remake of Spanish period soap opera 'El secreto de puente viejo'. Candidates for two main roles were Ana Brenda Contreras, Eiza González, Sara Maldonado, William Levy, Daniel Arenas and Gabriel Soto. The project was quickly abandoned by Díaz González.
- Renacer (2018)
- Mexican telenovela planned by producer Carlos Moreno for Televisa. It was supposed to be a remake of Colombian telenovela 'Señora Isabel'. Candidates for two main roles were Leticia Calderón and Pablo Lyle. The project was ultimately cancelled by Televisa's chief Rosy Ocampo..
S[]
- Segundo tiempo (2006)
- American telenovela ordered by Telemundo. Not much was known about the story, although Itati Cantoral and Mauricio Islas were reserved for the main roles.
- Solamente tú (2014)
- Mexican telenovela planned by producer Pedro Damián for Televisa. It was supposed to be an adaptation of 2013 Argentine telenovela 'Solamente vos' and it was supposed to replace 'El color de la pasión' on Televisa's channel Las Estrelas. Valentino Lanús and Irán Castillo were reserved for the main roles. The project was quickly abandoned by Damián.
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (2005)
- Mexican telenovela planned by producer Ernesto Alonso for Televisa. It was set to star Yadhira Carrillo and it was supposed to be a period telenovela. Due to debilitating health, Alonso abandoned the project.
U[]
- Una muchacha en Nueva York (2004)
- American telenovela ordered by Telemundo. Not much was known about the story or cast, although Minerva Ruvalcaba and Anna Silvetti were reserved for it.
V[]
- Vivendo o amor (2010)
- Brazilian telenovela ordered by Rede Record in co-production with Mexican Televisa. It was supposed to be a remake of Televisa's 'Cuidado con el angel'. The project was announced during a short promo for Record's 2011 season, however it was never realized.