‘Zorro’ drama with female lead From Robert & Rebecca Rodriguez

[Canada]

Source: Deadline

‘Zorro’ drama with female lead From Robert & Rebecca Rodriguez

EXCLUSIVE: Zorro is headed to the CW. The young-skewing network has put in development a gender-swapped reimagining of the classic masked vigilante character, from filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, writer-director Rebecca Rodriguez, Sean Tretta (Mayans M.C.) and Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens’ Propagate. CBS Studios, where Propagate has a deal, is the studio.

This is a new incarnation of the project, which was in development at NBC during the 2020-21 cycle, with Tretta as a new addition to the brother-and-sister writing team of Robert and Rebecca Rodriguez.

Co-penned by the trio and to be directed by Rebecca Rodriguez, in Zorro, a young Latinx woman seeking vengeance for her father’s murder joins a secret society and adopts the outlaw persona of Zorro. I hear the story by Robert and Rebecca Rodriguez was already in place when Tretta, who has an overall deal at CBS Studios, came on board earlier this cycle to write the script.

Tretta, who also will serve as showrunner, and Robert and Rebecca Rodriguez executive produce with Silverman, Owens and Rodney Ferrell for Propagate, along with Geoff Clark and Eric Bromberg. John Gertz, President and CEO of Zorro Productions, Inc., also executive produces with Jay Weisleder.

Propagate originally set out to develop a TV series re-imagining of Zorro with a female protagonist in 2019 as one of the company’s first projects under its first-look deal with CBS Studios. The idea’s first incarnation, written by Alfredo Barrios Jr., was set up at NBC, as was the 2020-21 version with Robert and Rebecca Rodriguez, which also had Sofia Vergara attached as an executive producer. She is no longer involved in the project.

Robert Rodriguez was attached to direct The Mask of Zorro and cast Antonio Banderas as the title role before leaving the feature project. In TV, he currently serves as an executive producer-director on Disney+’s The Book of Boba Fett. He previously developed and executive produced the series adaptation of his movie From Dusk Till Dawn for his TV network El Rey and also executive produced the Spy Kids animated series offshoot for Netflix. He recently directed an episode of Disney+’s The Mandalorian.

Rebecca Rodriguez’s recent directing credits include episodes of HBO Max’s Doom Patrol, NBC’s Debris, TNT’s Snowpiercer and Showtime’s The Chi.

Tretta has served as a co-executive producer on Mayans, M.C. His other previous writing-producing credits include Syfy’s 12 Monkeys and Hunters.

[Monterey Jack]

So this AND the one with Fez?

[KilloWertz]

Why does it have to be on the CW? Couldn't they have taken it literally anywhere else? One of the streaming platforms? It's a shame because there's plenty to like about it behind the camera, but given almost all of their shows have to include their agendas and can't just focus on what they should, it's hard to watch many of their shows anymore.

[Samus Aran]

The Zorro of Vancouver.

[lobo81865]

No thanks!

[Mikezilla3k]

Wait, is this a different female Zorro project than the one previous announced?

[ben6543]

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Wait, is this a different female Zorro project than the one previous announced?

Same one just went from NBC to CW

[kevin87]

Originally Posted by KilloWertz

Why does it have to be on the CW? Couldn't they have taken it literally anywhere else? One of the streaming platforms? It's a shame because there's plenty to like about it behind the camera, but given almost all of their shows have to include their agendas and can't just focus on what they should, it's hard to watch many of their shows anymore.

A gender swap was already going to be part of that "agenda" so might as well put it on the network that'll never shut up about it lol

I thought the Disney one sounded meh, but this will be worse.

[Mikezilla3k]

Originally Posted by ben6543

Same one just went from NBC to CW

Ah, OK.

[Mikezilla3k]

......also would it be too much to hope for that this show inspires Disney to give their Zorro series a re-release for those who missed out on the other release?

[donutbat]

The fact that the official description says "Latinx" makes this a no for me.

Latino is already the gender-neutral term whether people like it or not.

[BluBonnet]

[Torgon]

Lost me at ‘CW’

[edmonddantes]

so she will be la zorra..... (***** in spanish)

another brilliant idea from hollywood

[BluBonnet]

Xorro? I'd much prefer a churro

[Torgon]

Zorrx

[Aclea]

Maybe they could call it Zorro's Black Whip...

[KilloWertz]

I know some of this will be similar to what I already said, but changing the character to a female would actually be fine if it wasn't going to be on The CW. I could see it being a good show if it was on HBO Max or Netflix, but there's no chance we'd get a badass female version of the character on The CW. She'll be too busy crying about her feelings or dealing with somebody else crying about their feelings or something else going on in society at the moment. She'll also probably spend several episodes a season not even in the Zorro costume at all because of the crying or fighting with her family, boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever. They tend to forget what most of their shows should actually be about outside of a few of them (Nancy Drew being a rare one that actually knows it's a teen(ish) horror detective show most of the time).

[demonbeast]

Wasn't there an old tv just like this Queen of Swords?
It was like Zorro without the license at least that's what I remember about it. It was ok, the same as Relic Hunter I think they were both on around the same time.

[donutbat]

Originally Posted by edmonddantes

so she will be la zorra..... (***** in spanish)

another brilliant idea from hollywood

Originally Posted by KilloWertz

She'll also probably spend several episodes a season not even in the Zorro costume at all because of the crying or fighting with her family, boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever.

"We are Zorro!"