Gael Garcia Bernal never really struck us as a “tentpole guy.” Having built his cred working with dudes like Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (“Amores Perros“), Jim Jarmusch (“The Limits Of Control“), Alfonso Cuaron (“Y Tu Mama Tambien“), Walter Salles (“The Motorcycle Diaries“), Michel Gondry (“The Science Of Sleep“), Fernando Meirelles (“Blindness“) and Pedro Almodovar (“Bad Education“) he’s earned a strong reputation as an actor of taste and talent. Even more, as a producer he’s backed movies like “Voy a explotar” and “Sin Nombre.” Sure, he’s flirted with the mainstream in mind-boggling decisions to star in stuff like “Letters To Juliet” and the forthcoming “A Little Bit Of Heaven,” and his his next move is no less baffling.
Fox has tapped Bernal to take the lead in “Zorro Reborn” their futuristic reboot of the sword-wielding hero. If this sounds vaguely famililar, that’s because last spring the project first surfaced and it sounded pretty awful. Penned by Glenn Gers, Lee Shipman and Brian McGreevy (the guys behind the Dracula reimagining “Harker” that has Jaume Collet-Serra attached to direct) the movie will reinvent the masked nobleman by transplanting him into a post-apocalyptic future for a revenge tale that apparently nods to Sergio Leone and “No Country for Old Men.” Jesus.
Oddly, Fox has landed a star first while a director still needs to be found. If there is any silver lining here it’s that this is really unlike anything we’ve seen Bernal do before, and we’re kind of curious to see what he brings to it, no matter how half baked this material sounds. And Fox will want to be moving on this fast as Sony has their own Zorro movie in development based on the 2005 book by Steve Asbell. So yeah, Gael Barcia Bernal… coming to a toy line near you.
