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Millionaire flâneur by day, masked paladin by night. He has the invaluable help of his butler and his secret lair is in a cave beneath the foundations of his mansion. Twenty years before Batman, The Fox He patented some of the elements that would end up becoming part of the Bat-Man myth. AND In 2024, Don Diego de la Vega seems more determined than ever to recover the privileged superheroic position that, on his own merit, belongs to him..
A Spanish series with an inclusive look and shamanic seasonings that can already be seen on Prime Video, a romantic soap opera in development for North American TV; and the cinematic promise of a female version of the character, set in the present day and produced by Robert Rodríguez and Sofía Vergara. However, For all those in their late fifties, the most anticipated project comes from France, starring Oscar winner Jean Dujardin (The artist, J’accuse: the Dreyfus affair) and is presented as an unofficial sequel to the classic Disney series with the iconic Guy Williams.
“Dozens of American and Spanish actors have already personified him, but for the nostalgic Franco-Belgian, Zorro is and will be the one we saw on television in the ’60s,” said Benjamin Charbit, head writer of Zorro, an eight-episode series that will premiere on September 6 on the French screen France 2 and the international streaming service Paramount+. Filmed entirely on the outskirts of Almería (Spain), the plot is set some twenty years after the fight against the Eagle, with Diego happily married and reconverted into the mayor of his beloved Los Angeles. But not everything is rosy. The city faces serious financial problems, due to the greed of Don Emmanuel, a local businessman against whom organized law and order can do nothing. For this reason, Two decades after hanging up the black uniform, Diego will have to become Zorro again if he wants justice to prevail..
With role physics Dujardin will try to match the swordsmanship and cheeky smile that Guy Williams brought to Diego de la Vega / Zorro. “Jean is our Douglas Fairbanks,” said Émilie Noblet, one of the directors of the series, “and here he will be flanked by a solid cast with a lot of experience in the seventh art.” First, because of the place they occupy within the saga, the Italian Salvatore Ficarra and the Frenchman Grégory Gadebois, respectively the faithful Bernardo and the clumsy Sergeant García. A little further back, the veteran André Dussollier as Don Alejandro de la Vega, Diego’s father. And in the last line, the brave and beautiful Audrey Dana (Gabriella de la Vega) and the evil Eric Elmosnino (Don Emmanuel), in charge of the only two important characters that were not in the Disney series.
Produced by the Dujardin family, the project is made for the actor’s particular brilliance. “It is a suit made to measure,” Charbit acknowledged. It took us two years to finish the script, but in the end we were able to validate all of his theories about the character. Although alchemy was difficult to find, We ended up making a great adventure, beautifully crafted and crossed by various genres: comedy, melodrama, romance and historical drama of cape and sword.”.
Johnston McCulley wrote quickly and well. Two characteristics that he had perfected first as a crime journalist and then as a chronicler of the First World War. With this talent he had been building a notable career as a pulp writer, generating thousands of pages with adventurous heroes, romantic couples and historical settings. In 1919, when he sat down to plot the adventures of a masked vigilante in Spanish California in the 1800s, he fused these three aspects into a character with visual imagery of a mariachi and a name in the exotic Spanish language: Zorro.
The serial was titled The Curse of Capistrano and it began to be serialized in the magazine All-Story Weekly (the same one that housed the African saga of Tarzan) on August 9, 1919. It passed without pain or glory, until Douglas Fairbanks bought the rights and got his hands on the contents. The Hollywood star defined Zorro as we know him today. He dressed him in black, made him acrobatic, gallant and seductive; He added humor to it and ended up producing one of the most impressive hits of the seventh art: The mark of Zorro (1920).
With the masked paladin at the height of his popularity, the market was flooded with toys, costumes, novels and a host of films and film serials. Among Fairbanks’ fans was the teenage Walt Disney, who within a couple of years would found the company destined to shape global entertainment. In the mid-1950s, Disney began to make a strong entrance into the television industry. After leading the ratings with Disneyland and The Mickey Mouse Showthe cartoonist turned businessman decided to produce the first Zorro television series.
With a perfect cast, headed by the outstanding Guy Williams (Diego de la Vega), Henry Calvin (Sergeant Garcia), Gene Sheldon (Bernardo) and George J. Lewis (Alejandro de la Vega), The Fox debuted on October 10, 1957 on ABC. The success was instant and monumental. Overcoming every geographical and linguistic obstacle, by dint of charisma and an invincible smile, Williams installed the program in the hearts and emotional memories of several generations; and especially in ArgentinaRegardless of the artistic stature of the actors who had the opportunity to transform into the Californian hero (from Tyrone Power to Antonio Banderas, from Alain Delon to Frank Langella, from Fernando Lúpiz to Miguel Bernardeau), Williams remained eternalized as the definitive Zorro. So much so that he ended his career and his life identified with the masked swordsman.
If at an international level, the role model was always that of Guy Williams, at a local level the new series also pays tribute to the first French Zorro, Alain Delon. Italian-French co-production, Fox It was released in 1975 and was a worldwide success that breathed new life into the franchise. With a tone close to that of a spaghetti western, Delon created a European and aristocratic champion, with the same sense of humour as Williams, but without his classic moustache.
“Following that tradition but without betraying his Latin roots, our Diego de la Vega will be very European and somewhat brave,” clarified Marc Dujardin, Jean’s son and executive producer of the program. Mostly, He will be much more human and tormented, having to face various problems. Including, of course, the romantic issue of the couple.”.
At the beginning of the plot, Diego is happily married to Gabriella de la Vega, an empowered woman ahead of her time, who is unaware of her husband’s former secret identity. What no De la Vega expected is that, in the midst of the marital conflicts generated by the double role of mayor and hidden night hero, Gabriella would fall madly in love with Zorro. “What will Diego do to save his marriage? Charbit asked himself. We will have to see it. Luckily, he will have the invaluable help of Bernardo and Sergeant García.”
For Dujardin, who has experience with characters born in comic strips and popular French novels, such as the cowboy Lucky Luke and the secret agent OSS 117, playing Zorro is a dream come true. “It’s a wish I’ve had since I was a child – he confided – Because he’s all dressed in black and wears a mask, because I can practice fencing and ride a horse. And I was finally able to indulge myself.”.
In reality, Dujardin had already worn a cape and mask in an episode of the French series Platane in 2013, playing the actor who played Diego de la Vega in a supposed tribute to Guy Williams’ Zorro. But this time it is different, for him and for the spectators. “Fox It is a true extension of childhood. A gift that life offers me,” said the actor before going out to fight for the oppressed of ancient California, riding his steed, when the moon rises.
