With Gael García Bernal pegged to lead Fox’s Zorro reboot, Zorro Reborn, the search for a director is starting to zero in on Ricardo de Montreuil. Though probably not a name you have any reaction to at first glance, he was, at one point, almost in the Hollywood game; Universal and Mark Wahlberg took a liking to his six-minute short, The Raven, back in December of 2010. And then that was kind of it.

So while nothing’s been said on that front in the 15 months since things were developing, Variety tells us that Montreuil is now one of the top contenders for Zorro. (I’m guessing The Raven and prior interest in it played a big part in this coming together, for what it may be worth.) Fox’s current plan calls for the Peruvian to direct Bernal in a screen test — one that I can’t imagine has much in the way of action, but what do I know — and see where it goes from there.

Should you have forgotten, the script from Glenn Gers (Fracture) and Lee Shipman & Brian McGreevy (Harker) will “radically reinvent the Zorro mythology by having the protag act as a masked vigilante bent on getting revenge against an evil tyrant and his gang of mercenaries.” Big material for a newcomer like Ricardo de Montreuil — which, in turn, makes him a more interesting choice than just about any of the others Fox could have reeled in with a nice contract. Now, to see if “interesting” can also equate to “smarter.”

Here’s his short, if you’re curious to take a look:

Would a different voice be a good pick for Zorro Reborn?