Gael Garcia Bernal to play Zorro in futuristic film by Jonas Cuaron

Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal will play Zorro in a futuristic reinterpretation of the famous myth to be written and directed by his countryman, Jonas Cuaron, the Lantica Media production company said Tuesday in a press release.

Under the provisional title “Z,” the film will set the myth of Zorro the swashbuckling pulp action hero created by Johnston McCulley in 1919 in an apocalyptic future.

“Z” is a reimagining of the classic legend and will “take audiences to a new and visually exciting world,” the press release says.

Cuaron this year came out with his second film “Desierto,” a border thriller about immigrants that also starred Garcia Bernal, who in early 2016 won a Golden Globe for his role in the Amazon comedy series “Mozart in the Jungle.”

Cuaron is the son of famed Mexican director and producer Alfonso Cuaron and, together, they wrote the screenplay for the renowned 2013 space film “Gravity,” which won seven Oscars including best director for the elder Cuaron.

“Z” is being coproduced by Lantica Pictures and Sobini Films, financed by Lantica Media, and filming is slated to begin in the Dominican Republic in the last quarter of 2016.

“I have always loved Gael for this role. Zorro is a hero who is charming, witty, and clever. Gael possesses all those characteristics and he’s able to deliver them with a modern spin to introduce the Zorro character to a new audience,” said Sobini Films executive director Mark Amin.