Since his first appearance in 1919, Zorro has been brought to life through dozens of books, a touchstone Disney television show from the 1950’s, 3 Mexican films, 11 American films and 32 European films (along with a plethora of less notable Zorro television shows and animated series). We haven’t seen Zorro on the silver screen since Antonio Banderas swashbuckled stylishly in 2005’s Legend of Zorro. Now, just in time for the Zorro centennial, Sony is rebooting Zorro in a futuristic (near future) setting in Z.
While the film’s title will surely please anxious internet writers who enjoy conservative character counts, this definitive reboot will disappoint fans that were hoping for the rumored Django Unchained/Zorro crossover to happen. Z might not even be the rumored post-apocalyptic Zorro that was rumored earlier this year.
Gael García Bernal most recently won a Golden Globe for his work in the Amazon series Mozart In The Jungle. Director and writer Jonás Cuarón, who directed Gravity, is thrilled to have Bernal behind the mask. Mark Amin, the one-time CEO of Trimark Pictures, will be producing Z:
I have always loved Gael for this role,” said Amin. “Zorro is a hero who is charming, witty and clever. Gael possesses all those characteristic and he’s able to deliver them with a modern spin to introduce the Zorro character to a new audience.”
Hopefully, this will do better than Legend of Zorro, which has a 26 rating on Rotten Tomatoes and brought in mediocre box office numbers. Seriously, everyone go see this so we can see Zorro and Django kill a bunch of bad guys.
(Via Deadline)
