Robert Rodriguez's female-led Zorro has moved homes from NBC to The CW. A pulp icon, Zorro is one of the most iconic characters in pop culture, often identified by his signature black outfit, cordovan hat, and half mask. The character has been a fixture of pop culture since his debut in 1919 and has been the star of comics, novels, television series, and feature films, with the most iconic modern interpretation being the 1998 Antonino Banderas-led film, The Mask of Zorro.
Acclaimed filmmaker, Robert Rodriguez, who was at one point set to direct The Mask of Zorro back in 1998 before dropping out, has been developing a new television series based on Zorro, but with a female lead in the title role. The series was announced in December 2021 to be in development at NBC. Rodriguez has been a recent powerhouse in television, turning his cult film From Dusk Till Dawn into a three-season run series and as an executive producer on The Book of Boba Fett, which is currently running on Disney+.
According to Deadline, the Zorro series has now moved from NBC to The CW. The series will be produced by Robert Rodriguez and his sister Rebecca Rodriguez, who are co-writing the pilot script, which will feature a young Latinx woman seeking vengeance for her father’s murder. In the process, she joins a secret society and adopts the outlaw persona of Zorro. Mayans M.C. producer, Sean Tretta, who has an overall deal with The CW parent company, CBS Studios, will serve as the series showrunner while Rodriguez will direct the series pilot.
The female-led Zorro series is one of many Zorro projects currently in development. That '70s Show star, Wilmer Valderrama, is set to star in a separate Zorro series that is in the works for Disney. Gael García Bernal and Kiersey Clemons signed on to star in a reimagining of Zorro set in the future, titled Z, yet no release date has been set, and development on the film has been quiet since 2018. Quentin Tarantino has even discussed the possibility of a sequel to Django Unchained, which would cross over with Zorro.
A female-led Zorro series seems like a strong fit for the teen-centric network, which has also found great success in recent years with re-imaginings of popular series like Walker and Kung Fu, both of which have been renewed for second seasons. Rodriguez's Zorro moving from NBC to The CW also comes following news that WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS are looking to sell The CW. If the sale goes through, a brand new series like Zorro could kick off a new era for The CW to bring in a new audience.
Source: Deadline