Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal looks set to take up the famous black mask of Latino legend Zorro in a reboot of the series, whilst the character’s former cape-wearer Antonio Banderas has signed on to play another legendary Spaniard – Pablo Picasso. Both actors made names for themselves in their native countires before making the leap to Hollywood, with Banderas cutting his acting teeth in the early films of acclaimed director Pedro Almodóvar, while Garcia Bernal is well remembered for starring in the Mexican art-house hit Y tu mamá también.

Banderas cemented his A-list status in Hollywood thanks to his role as the titular hero in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro, which was based off the comic of the same name and also starred Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins. He reprised the role in a 2005 sequel, The Legend of Zorro, again with Zeta-Jones, although the film failed to meet the same level of success as its predecessor.

Studio executives are hoping to revitalise the franchise with a new futuristic slant, placing Garcia Bernal’s Zorro in a post-apocalyptic setting as young vigilante, according to Variety. The pic, to be called Zorro Reborn, is under development by Fox but currently has no director attached and details are still vague.

Banderas meanwhile is set to portray world-famous Cubist painter Picasso in an upcoming film directed by prolific filmmaker Carlos Saura. Titled 33 Dias (33 Days), the feature will centre on the time span it took Picasso to create his masterpiece mural ‘Guernica’. Shooting is expected to start this summer with no release date as of yet.