Zorro is getting a post-apocalyptic remake whether you want one or not

Zorro Reborn is hoping to start shooting as soon as March next year

Zorro has been in more than 40 films but is now getting a sci-fi twist for a new generation (UPPA/Photoshot)

Zorro is heading to cinemas once again but this time, he’s going to be defending peasants and fighting corrupt officials in a grim post-apocalyptic future.

Hollywood filmmakers have been umming and ahhing over how to spice up the masked hero’s 100-year-old story but finally seem to have settled on a sci-fi twist, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.

The movie is yet to find a director, but Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal is the hot tip to play the lead, should the shooting schedule fit around his other commitments.

Filming on the not-so-imaginatively titled Zorro Reborn is set to begin next March in the Dominican Republic and bar the time period, is expected to stay faithful to Johnston McCulley’s original character.

Antonio Gennari, CEO of Sobrini Films, said: “Every generation has its own Zorro hero and we’re proud to be able to introduce a new Zorro to this generation."

“But…why?” is the question on many fans’ lips, particularly those who feel no-one can replace Antonio Banderas in 1998’s The Mask of Zorro, with some concerned about the precedent such a reboot might set. Others think the idea sounds “brilliant” and are staying open-minded.

There has been no further mention of the worrying Django/Zorro crossover film referred to in leaked Sony emails between Quentin Tarantino and former Sony Pictures chair Amy Pascal last year.

Tarantino released a comic series of the same name in November, intending it to serve as a fun sequel to his 2012 Oscar-winning movie, Django Unchained.

Discussions about a possible movie adaptation suggested that we might see something in 2017, so perhaps there are yet more Zorro-themed surprises awaiting us.