EXCLUSIVE: An eponymous gender-swapped reimagination of the classic masked vigilante Zorro is in the works at CBS from CBS Studios, sources tell Deadline. Zorro hails from filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, his writer-director sister Rebecca Rodriguez and Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens’ Propagate.
John Hlavin (The Man Who Fell To Earth) has joined the project, replacing the previously attached Sean Tetra as co-writer alongside Rebecca Rodriguez. The duo are writing a new original script for CBS.
In this contemporary take, a young Latinx woman discovers that her long-deceased father was the legendary hero Zorro. She takes on his masked persona to defend the desperate citizens of her Austin, Texas community from the wealthy forces seeking to exploit them.
Executive producers include Robert Rodriguez; Ben Silverman, Rodney Ferrell and Howard T. Owens for Propagate; Geoff Clark, Eric Bromberg, Jay Weisleder and John Gertz (ZPI/rightsholder).
This is the project’s third incarnation following earlier deals at NBC and the CW in 2020 and 2022, respectively. CBS Studios has been part of the Zorro journey since its inception through Propogate’s deal with the studio at the time, first as co-producer alongside Universal TV and later as the solo studio when it moved to the CW.
The NBC version was written by Alfredo Barrios Jr. and counted Sofia Vergara and her LatinWe as part of its creative team. Vergara was not part of the CW incarnation, which had Tretta joining Rebecca Rodriguez as co-writer.
The Zorro IP continues to be a hot commodity with multiple TV and film projects in various stages of development. To name a few, the French series Zorro, starring Jean Dujardin as the masked swordsman, premiered on Paramount+ earlier this month. Before that, Prime Video’s Zorro debuted in January with Miguel Ángel Bernardeau Duato leading the Spanish cast.
Robert Rodriguez’s close friend and collaborator Wilmer Valderrama has been developing a Zorro series of his own at Disney+ since 2021 with writer Bryan Cogman joining the fold last spring. Valderrama executive produces and stars in the Disney Branded Television project—which is actively in development— follows privileged caballero Diego De La Vega, who returns to his hometown of El Pueblo de Los Angeles following a family tragedy. There, he discovers a culture of corruption and injustice that will lead him to take on the mantle of the masked vigilante Zorro — America’s first true superhero. With different studios at the helm, it’s doubtful Valderrama and Rodriguez could create a super Zorro universe but one never knows.
Robert Rodriguez is repped by WME; Rebecca Rodriguez is repped by UTA and Yorn, Levine, Barnes, Krintzman; Hlavin is represented by UTA and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer.
