Sony Hires Writer For Planned ZORRO Reboot

Sony has been trying to get the swashbuckling hero Zorro back on the screens for some time and they may have found the writer to get him there. The studio has hired playwright Chris Boal to pen the screenplay for the franchise reboot.

While Boal has no produced credits on his resume yet, he has completed a trio of high-profile assignments – the adaptation of John Scalzi’s science-fiction novel Old Man’s War for Paramount and the Viking project Vanguard for Alexander Skarsgaard to star in and Caesar, both for Warner Brothers.

It is not known how many writers Sony may have met with, but Boal may have had an edge as he was a national competitive fencer before he turned to writing.

As for Boal’s take on the classic pulp character, Deadline is reporting that he looks as if the will be –

less traditional swashbuckler, and more of a Dark Knight-style unveiling of the character with a new backstory, gritty realism and emotional core. There will be swordplay, combined with the martial arts that came from Europe and created a deadly combination of action and lethal fighting systems that combined swords, daggers, grappling and bare knuckles.

I have to admit, that while I love a good Zorro movie, a grim and gritty, “Dark Knight-style” doesn’t sound like a good idea for a Zorro movie.