The Mask of Zorro is a 1998 American Western swashbuckler film based on the fictional character Zorro by Johnston McCulley. Directed by Martin Campbell from a screenplay by John Eskow, Ted Elliott, and Terry Rossio, it stars Antonio Banderas in the main role, with Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Stuart Wilson co-starring in supporting roles. The film features the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega (Hopkins), escaping from prison to find his long-lost daughter (Zeta-Jones) and avenge the death of his wife at the hands of the corrupt governor Rafael Montero (Wilson). He is aided by his successor (Banderas), who is pursuing his own vendetta against the governor's right-hand man while falling in love with de la Vega's daughter.
Executive producer Steven Spielberg had initially developed the film for TriStar Pictures with directors Mikael Salomon and Robert Rodriguez, before Campbell signed on in 1996. Salomon cast Sean Connery as Don Diego de la Vega, while Rodriguez brought Banderas in the lead role. Connery dropped out and was replaced with Hopkins, and The Mask of Zorro began filming in January 1997 at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City, Mexico.
The Mask of Zorro was released in the United States by TriStar Pictures on July 17, 1998, to critical and commercial success, grossing $250.3 million against a $65-95 million budget. The film was nominated for two awards at the 71st Academy Awards, and two awards at the 56th Golden Globe Awards. A sequel, The Legend of Zorro, also starring Banderas and Zeta-Jones and directed by Campbell, was released in 2005, but did not fare as well as its predecessor.
Plot
In 1821, masked swordsman Zorro defends the commoners of Alta California from Spanish oppression. Corrupt governor Don Rafael Montero sets a trap for Zorro at the public execution of three peasants. Zorro stops the execution, and Montero's soldiers are defeated by two young brothers, Alejandro and Joaquín Murrieta. Zorro fights the remaining soldiers and thanks the brothers by giving Joaquín a medallion. Montero deduces Spanish-born nobleman Don Diego de la Vega is Zorro and attempts to arrest him at his home. A swordfight and then a fire breaks out, and de la Vega's wife Esperanza, whom Montero covets, is murdered in the process. While the building burns, Montero takes de la Vega's infant daughter, Elena, as his own before imprisoning de la Vega and returning to Spain.
In 1841, Alejandro and Joaquín are bandits and conmen trying to steal a strongbox. They, however, fail and are caught by Captain Harrison Love, employed by Montero's company. Alejandro escapes, but a wounded Joaquín commits suicide. Meanwhile, Montero returns to California with the now adult Elena. Because of Montero, Elena believes her mother died in childbirth. Montero's reappearance motivates de la Vega to escape captivity. He encounters a drunk Alejandro and recognizes the medallion he gave his brother. He agrees to make Alejandro his protégé in order for them to take revenge on their respective enemies, Montero and Love. Alejandro agrees to undergo de la Vega's intense training in Zorro's secret lair underneath the ruins of his family estate, in hopes of being named his successor.
While still being trained, Alejandro steals a stallion resembling Zorro's steed Tornado from the local garrison, masked like "Zorro" and barely escaping. De la Vega scolds Alejandro, asserting that Zorro was a servant of the people, not a thief. He challenges Alejandro to gain Montero's trust instead. Alejandro poses as visiting nobleman Don Alejandro del Castillo y García, with de la Vega as his servant Bernardo, and attends a party at Montero's hacienda. There, he earns Elena's admiration and enough of Montero's trust to be invited to a secret meeting between noblemen. Montero hints at a plan to overthrow Mexican rule in California and proclaim it as an independent republic by buying it from Santa Anna, who needs money for the upcoming Mexican–American War.
Montero takes Alejandro and the noblemen to a secret gold mine where peasants and prisoners are used for slave labor. He plans to buy California from Santa Anna using gold mined from his own land. While walking in a market, Elena meets the woman who was her nanny. She tells Elena her parents' real identity. De la Vega passes the Zorro mantle to Alejandro and sends him to steal Montero's map, leading to the gold mine. Zorro duels Montero, Love, and their guards at the hacienda. When he escapes, Elena chases him, attempting to retrieve Montero's map. After a sword duel, Zorro kisses her and flees.
Fearing Santa Anna's retribution, Montero decides to destroy the mine and kill the workers to leave no witnesses. De la Vega tells Alejandro to release the workers on his own so he can reclaim Elena. Alejandro sets off, feeling betrayed by de la Vega's vendetta. De la Vega corners Montero at the hacienda and reveals his identity before Montero captures him. While being taken away, de la Vega tells Elena the name of the flowers she recognized upon her arrival in California, convincing her that he is her father. She releases de la Vega from his cell. They proceed to the mine, where Alejandro and de la Vega duel and slay Love and Montero, respectively. Elena and Alejandro free the workers before the explosives go off and find the mortally wounded de la Vega. Before dying, he makes peace with the pair and gives his blessings for Alejandro to continue as Zorro and be with Elena. Sometime later, Alejandro and Elena are married with an infant son, "Joaquín", whom Alejandro speaks to of the deeds of Zorro.
Cast
Antonio Banderas as Alejandro Murrieta / Zorro:Banderas was paid $5 million for the role. The character of Alejandro Murrieta was conceived as the fictional brother of the real-life Joaquin Murrieta, making the character either Mexican or Chilean. To prepare for his role, Banderas practiced with the Olympic fencing team in Spain for four months, before studying additional fencing and swordsmanship with Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The three were trained by Bob Anderson during pre-production in Mexico, spending 10 hours a day for two months specifically on fight scenes from the film. "We used to call him Grumpy Bob on the set, he was such a perfectionist," director Martin Campbell reflected. "He was incredibly inventive, and also refused to treat any of the actors as stars. They would complain about the intensity of the training, but having worked with him there's nobody I'd rather use." During interviews for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Anderson rated Banderas the best natural talent with whom he had worked. Before Banderas was chosen for the role, Benicio Del Toro, Andy García, Marc Anthony, Joaquim de Almeida, and Chayanne were considered. José María de Tavira portrays a young Alejandro Murrieta. Anthony Hopkins as Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro:Hopkins was cast in December 1996, one month before filming began. Hopkins, known for his dramatic acting, took up the role because of his enthusiasm to be in an action film. For the role of Diego de la Vega, actors Sean Connery and Raúl Juliá, who died before he could take the role, were also considered. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Elena Montero:The actress signed on in November 1996, when Spielberg saw her performance in the Titanic miniseries and recommended her to Campbell. Despite being a Welsh actress portraying a Spanish character, Zeta-Jones discovered similarities between her "volatile" Celtic temper and the Latin temperament of Eléna. Izabella Scorupco, who worked with Campbell on GoldenEye, Judith Godrèche, Salma Hayek, Shakira, and Jennifer Lopez screen tested for the part. Zeta-Jones credits The Mask of Zorro as her breakthrough in entering A-list recognition. María and Mónica Fernández Cruz portray Elena de la Vega (infant). Stuart Wilson as Don Rafael Montero:Armand Assante had initially been cast in the role, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with The Odyssey. Stuart Wilson, whom Campbell previously had directed in No Escape, was cast in Assante's place four months after. Actors Sam Shepard, Lance Henriksen, Edward James Olmos, Scott Glenn, and Giancarlo Giannini were also considered for the role. Matt Letscher as Captain Harrison Love Tony Amendola as Don Luiz Pedro Armendáriz Jr. as Don Pedro Victor Rivers as Joaquin Murrieta Diego Sieres as young Joaquín L. Q. Jones as Three-fingered Jack: Alejandro and Joaquin's partner, he was captured and later killed by Harrison Love at the mine. Julieta Rosen as Esperanza De La Vega: Don Diego's beloved wife and Elena's mother Other actors in the film include William Marquez as Fray Felipe, Maury Chaykin as a prison warden, Jose Perez as the bumbling Corporal Garcia (a character originating in the 1950s American TV series), Humberto Elizondo as Don Julio, Fernando Becerril as Don Sergio, and Vanessa Bauche as an Indio girl. Joaquim de Almeida filmed scenes as Antonio López de Santa Anna, but his role was cut from the final film.
Production
Development
In October 1992, TriStar Pictures and Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment were planning to start production on Zorro the following year, and hired Joel Gross to rewrite the script after they were impressed with his adaptation of The Three Musketeers. At the time, Spielberg was producing Zorro with the potential to direct. Gross completed his rewrite in March 1993, and TriStar entered pre-production, creating early promotion for the film that same month at the ShoWest trade show. By December 1993, Branko Lustig was producing the film with Spielberg, and Mikael Salomon was attached as director. In August 1994, Sean Connery was cast as Don Diego de la Vega, while Salomon stated that the rest of the major cast would be Hispanic or Latino. The first chosen for the role of Zorro in his young version was Andy García, a fashionable Latin actor at the time. The role of Zorro was offered to Tom Cruise, but he declined as he felt it was not a good idea. Colombian singer Shakira was also initially considered to play Elena but turned it down due to her limited acting experience (despite having co-starred in the Colombian television series El Oasis) and her own poor English skills at the time. Pre-production proceeded even further in August when Salomon compiled test footage for a planned April 1995 start date. Viggo Mortensen read for a role as a sheriff.
Connery and Salomon eventually dropped out, and in September 1995, Robert Rodriguez, fresh off the success of Desperado, signed to direct with Antonio Banderas, who had also starred in Desperado, playing the title role. TriStar and Amblin had been surprised by Rodriguez's low-budget filming techniques for his action films, El Mariachi and Desperado, and shifted away from their initial plans with Salomon to make a big-budget version of Zorro. Spielberg had hoped Rodriguez would start filming in January 1996 for a Christmas release date, but the start date was pushed back to July. The release date was later moved to Easter 1997. Rodriguez pulled out of the film in June 1996 over difficulties coming to terms with TriStar on the budget. TriStar projected a range of $35 million, while Rodriguez wanted $45 million. They both attempted to compromise when Rodriguez lowered it to $42 million, but TriStar refused and set $41 million as their highest mark. Banderas remained with the production, and Martin Campbell signed on later that month, turning down the chance to direct Tomorrow Never Dies. The finished screenplay would be written by John Eskow, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, based on a story by Elliott, Rossio, and Randall Jahnson.
Filming