Unfortunately we live in an era where film studios have fallen in love with the idea of reboots and capatilising on the success of films in the past, so it’s inevitable that yet another popular character from the past is making its way back into the film world and getting the reboot treatment. Zorro and his cape will be making a return to cinema screens in the near future and this time the Mexican hero’s story will be written and directed by Jonás Cuarón, the son of Gravity director Alfonso Cuarón, who both co-wrote that 2014 film together. They also have a star for the film with Gael García Bernal set to play the title character in an adaptation that will simply be called Z.
The actor’s name might not be instantly recognizable to some of us, but he is an established actor from Mexico who has been growing his presence in Hollywood over the last few years and this role could be his breakout that turns him into a household name. The pair most recently collaborated on Desierto, which is being released later this year. Bernal recently won a Golden Globe for his performance in the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle and has appeared in several Mexican films and so has a strong presence in the country, which is important as Zorro is a Mexican one after all.
The previous Zorro movies were popular, but not overwhelming successes at the box-office and so will not be a sure bet for box-office success and the expectation would likely be for the pair to bring in something fresh and exciting to the film. Cuarón, while nowhere near as accomplished as his Oscar-winning father, has also been building his reputation as a writer/director and only done mostly small or lesser known films up to this point as a director. This will certainly be a challenge that will test his skill as an up and coming director.
Mark Amin, CEO of production company Sobini Films and who will be serving as one of the producers of the film, said in a statement about the star:
I have always loved Gael for this role. 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.
And he is not wrong – what has always made Zorro an appealing character is not his incredible sword play and acrobatics, but his charm and charisma and whoever takes on the role needs to have that in bucket loads to make the character work. Lets hope he can bring this and some incredible action to the reboot.
It’s still early days in this project, but we’ll continue to let you know how the development of the film unfolds. There are no planned release date commitments from the studio at this moment.
Last Updated: May 13, 2016
