Sony's Zorro Reboot to follow The Dark Knight

Sony's Zorro reboot to follow The Dark Knights example

Ever since Antonio Banderas last donned the cape in 2005's The Legend of Zorro, rebooting the Zorro franchise has proven a Sisyphean project for Hollywood. The last we heard about a Zorror film was Fox's Zorro Reborn, a post-apocalyptic interpretation of the hero that was to star Gael García Bernal. That was two years ago. In the meantime, it looks like Sony Pictures -- the studio behind the Banderas films -- is moving ahead with its own competing project that was originally announced around the same time as Reborn.

Deadline reports that Sony has signed Chris Boal to write the studio's Zorro reboot. Not only is Boal a screenwriter, he's also a playwright and competitive fencer.

While that combination may sound like a perfect fit for the franchise, the direction in which the studio reportedly wants to take the story will anger some Zorro fans. Insiders say that Sony's reboot will take the Dark Knight route, featuring "gritty realism and an emotional core." The swordplay inherent to any Zorro story will remain, but it will be accompanied by European martial arts that combine "swords, daggers, grappling and bare knuckles."

This rumor is amusing considering that the Dark Knight himself was largely inspired by Zorro. In fact, in the comics, Bruce Wayne's parents were killed as the family was leaving the theater where they had just seen a Zorro film.