14 DAY TRIAL // Do you remember how, a couple of years ago, many movie buffs were complaining that too many movies or film franchises were getting the “Dark Knight” / Chris Nolan treatment? You can now safely add “Zorro” to that list.
Deadline has just confirmed that Sony Pictures is moving along with a planned reboot of the beloved film franchise starring the popular hero / crime fighter. However, by the time everything is put together and Zorro returns to the big screen, he won’t be the same guy we got to know and love in the Antonio Banderas movies.
That’s because he will be a much grittier, violent and darker character. In other words, Sony will do to Zorro what Chris Nolan did to Batman in the “Dark Knight” trilogy, and now that this has been decided, all that’s left for us fans to do is hope that the gritty part won’t end up feeling totally gratuitous.
Chris Boal is handling writing duties on the reboot, which has been in the works and up on the priorities list at Sony for years, the trade publication says. It will be produced by the same guys who are handling the “Men in Black” reboot.
“The ambition of the movie is less traditional swashbuckler, and more of a Dark Knight-style unveiling of the character with a new backstory, gritty realism and emotional core. There will be swordplay, combined with the martial arts that came from Europe and created a deadly combination of action and lethal fighting systems that combined swords, daggers, grappling and bare knuckles,” Deadline says.
So far, no name has been thrown around in connection with this reboot, so we might as well have some fun with the idea: who do you think will be most appropriate to play such a hero, a Zorro meets Dark Knight type of vigilante? Any suggestions?