It’s been more than a decade since Antonio Banderas last dressed himself up in a black cape and mask to ride in defense of the common people in the critically and financially disappointing The Legend Of Zorro. Ever since, we’ve been hearing whispers and rumors about a possible fresh interpretation of Johnston McCulley’s iconic swashbuckling hero. And now it looks like one might just come to pass—if anything “futuristic” still counts as a fresh interpretation.
Lantica Media and Sobini Films have just announced that Jonás Cuarón (son of Gravity director Alfonso Cuarón, with whom he co-wrote that screenplay) has been chosen to write and direct Z, which was described as “a post-apocalyptic take on the myth of Zorro… set in the near future” back when it was going by the title Zorro Reborn. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the “post-apocalyptic” bit has been removed, but the “guy in a cape fighting tyranny in the near future” remains.
The 35-year-old Mexican filmmaker seems to have sufficiently impressed Lantica and Sobini executives with his soon-to-be-released thriller Desierto, which screened at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Sobini Films CEO Mark Amin says that, upon seeing the film, he was “impressed with Jonás’s command of action and suspense, his great visual eye, and the strong performances he elicited from his actors.”
Previous incarnations of the project had Gael García Bernal attached to star; while no official casting announcements for the movie now known as Z have been made, Bernal also starred in Desierto, so don’t be surprised if he re-teams with Cuarón for some masked swashbuckling.
[via Coming Soon]