Steven SpielbergknewThe Mask of Zorrowas special. The Academy Award-winning director (Schindler’s ListandSaving Private Ryan) spent time on the set ofThe Mask of Zorroin 1997, which celebrated its 25th anniversary on July 26, 2025. And Spielberg told the film’s star Antonio Banderas that the use of special effects in cinema was shifting from practical to CGI.
Banderas said in an interview withYahoo Entertainment:
Steven Spielberg said to me once when we were shooting, ‘This is probably going to be one of the last Westerns shot in the way the Westerns were shot in the old days, with real scenes with real horses, where everything is real, [real] sword fighting, no CGI.' Everything was [practical].
Author Johnston McCulley created the character of the masked vigilante Zorro back in 1919. And since that time the hero, whose true identity is Don Diego de la Vega, has been played by a number of Hollywood Heavyweights, including Douglas Fairbanks (1920’sThe Mark of Zorro), matinee idol Tyrone Power (1940’sThe Mark of Zorro) and George Hamilton (Zorro, The Gay Blade).
Related:All of Steven Spielberg’s Best Director Oscar Nominations, Ranked
Banderas remembers Spielberg’s Words on the set of Zorro
Antonio Banders’ character, Alejandro Murrieta, took up the mantle of the masked vigilanteZorrofrom an aging Don Diego de la Vega (Anthony Hopkins) in 1998’sThe Mask of Zorro. The film currently holds a Tomatometer rating of 83%, which is a testament to not only the popularity of the character but also acknowledges the brilliant work done by director Martin Campbell. But it was another director who was on the 1997 set that imparted his wisdom onto Banderas.
Banderas said in the same interview with Yahoo Entertainment:
And he [Spielberg] said, ‘But things are going to change. They’re going to change, and they’re gonna change fast. And so, you should be proud of this movie.’ And I am, probably even more now than at the time that I was doing it. I don’t know if I was absolutely conscious when I was doing ‘Zorro’ that it was going to have an impact. The impact that it’s had, and especially after 25 years… It was a very beautiful adventure movie with a lot of ingredients that made it shine in a very beautiful way. I have nothing but good memories.
Banderas also discussed the possibility of reprising the role in a third installment:
I’ve had people approaching with different ideas.Obviously, if I do another movie now, I would play the [mentor] character that Anthony Hopkins did in the first version. I [would] be the character that passes the torch to the new Zorro, which would be great, just to do so. But you know, if it comes, great. If it doesn’t, you know, the other two are there forever.
The Mask of Zorromade just over $250 million worldwide (perBox Office Mojo), which prompted a sequel in 2005 titledThe Legend of Zorro. Both Banderas and his co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones reprised their roles from the original film.The Mask of Zorrois currently available to stream on MGM+.
