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 will pen 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 a.