Bernal
Zorro
After a prolonged search, 20th Century Fox is zeroing in on Mexican thesp Gael Garcia Bernal to star in "Zorro Reborn."
Pic is a futuristic reboot of the Zorro mythology that will not be set in California or Mexico, despite the story's Western themes. Garcia Bernal would play the Spanish swordsman as a masked vigilante bent on revenge.
Fox declined comment.
Glenn Gers wrote the script along with "Harker" scribes Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy. Project is still seeking a director.
Mark Amin, Cami Winikoff and David Higgins will produce for Sobini Films; 20th Century Fox exec Steve Asbell will oversee the project for the studio. The Zorro character was last seen on screen in Martin Campbell's 2005 pic "The Legend of Zorro," which starred Antonio Banderas. Sony, which released two Zorro films starring Banderas, is developing its own origin story about the swashbuckling hero based on Isabel Allende's 2005 novel "Zorro."
Garcia Bernal, who next stars opposite Will Ferrell in the Spanish-language comedy "Casa de mi Padre" and alongside Kate Hudson in "A Little Bit of Heaven," has worked with an impressive lineup of foreign filmmakers including Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron, Walter Salles, Michel Gondry, Fernando Meirelles and Pedro Almodovar.
Garcia Bernal is repped by WME.
Contact Jeff Sneider at
jeff.sneider@variety.com