Deadline has learned that Sofia Vergara and Robert Rodriguez are just two of several names who will helm a re-imagined Zorro series with a female lead coming to NBC. This version will be centered around an underground artist named Sola Dominguez, who fights for social injustice despite being threatened by several criminal organizations after exposing them.
The series will be directed by Rodriguez's sister Rebecca, who will also pen the script with Robert. Her previous directorial credits include episodes of Snowpiercer, TheChi, and Doom Patrol. Deadline notes that Robert was once tapped to direct the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro, and even cast Antonio Banderas as the titular character, following their work together on Desperado.
Rodriguez left the project over rumored budget disputes. The job was eventually given to Martin Campbell, the director famously known for his work on the Bond films, GoldenEye and Casino Royale. Vergara would later join the star-studded cast of the 2013 Rodriguez-directed flick Machete Kills. Getting back to the Zorro series, Vergara's attachment to the project comes from her longtime collaborative relationship with Ben Silverman.
Silverman, along with Howard Owens, founded a production company called Propagate, which signed a first-look deal with CBS Television Studios last year. One of the handful of projects that Propagate was said to be developing at the time was a Zorro series with a female protagonist. Alfredo Barrios Jr., executive producer of USA's Burn Notice and the Magnum P.I. reboot series, was originally slated to write the pilot.
