USA Network has ordered a project based on a hit Telemundo production. Deadline.com reports that the cable channel ordered “The Queen of the South” to pilot, with the project based on the 2011 Telemundo hit “La Reina del Sur.”

The project includes movie producer David T. Friendly in his television debut, the story says. Friendly, of “Little Miss Sunshine,” brought the project to Fox TV Studios, which is producing.

“The Queen of the South,” based on a bestselling book by Arturo Perez-Reverte, tracks a woman named Teresa Mendoza whose drug-dealing boyfriend is murdered, forcing her to seek refuge in the U.S. She ends up taking on the drug trafficking ring and becomes the cartel’s leader, the story says.

Deadline notes: “‘La Reina del Sur’ is not a typical telenovela, with critics noting that is feels closer to ‘Breaking Bad’ than ‘One Life to Live,’ and Telemundo giving it a major Emmy campaign. It was Telemundo’s most expensive telenovela ever with a budget of $10 million and became the highest-rated program in the Spanish-language network’s 19-year history, averaging nearly 4.2 million total viewers and more than 2.8 million … adults 18-49.”