I really hope this is the end of “versions of famous characters set in a dystopic future.” I don’t even have words for how unnecessary this is. Just, please, dear god, why. Stop. No.
Zorro Reborn has been in development hell for fifteen years, with Fox having had Bryan Singer, Ricardo de Montreuil, Gary Whitta and Justin Marks attached at different points. Now, the project’s come back from the dead with Lantica Media and Sobini Films, with a plan to start filming in March, 2016.
Here’s the synopsis of Zorro Reborn from the Hollywood Reporter:
Zorro Reborn is a post-apocalyptic take on the myth of Zorro, the pulp hero created in 1919. The traditional stories cast Zorro as a hero of peasants and farmers who fought against corrupt and brutal officials of Spanish-held California. Reborn is set in the near future but keeps the idea of a masked and caped stranger taking on tyrants.
And it is necessary that the masked and caped hero be named Zorro why? The plot is so generic anyone could be the hero.
Okay, yes. The “why” is that it’s much easier to just slap a familiar name onto this rather than try to do an original story set in the near-future. And I bet all the coins in my purse that this Zorro is the descendant of the famous one. And that this turns into a “grim and gritty” take on the character. A character I first encountered on the Wonderful World of Disney. Life has lost all color.
Contact the author at katharine@io9.com.