- Title: USA: THE WORLD PREMIERE OF "THE MASK OF ZORRO" IS HELD IN HOLLYWOOD
- Date: 12th June 1998
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 12) (RTV) ANTONIO BANDERAS WITH MELANIE GRIFFITHS OUTSIDE THEATRE WHERE ZORRO WAS PREMIERED, TALKING TO MEDIA. BANDERAS SAYING, "IT WAS THE ZORRO MARK (LIPSTICK ON CHEEK) IT WAS FUN AND IT WAS TOUGH. IT WAS VERY TIRING AND WE WERE WORKING FOR SEVEN MONTHS AND I WAS PREPARING WITH THE NATIONAL OLYMPIC TEAM IN SPAIN FOR FOUR MON
- Embargoed: 27th June 1998 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA8BXCSOXQNK0BJKXAET5ZG8411
- Story Text: The two Tony's, Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas, turned out in Hollywood on Friday, July 10 to celebrate the world premiere of their new action-adventure, "The Mask of Zorro." They were joined by their co-stars, newcomer Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julietta Rosen and director Martin Campbell.
Zorro is back in a dashing new movie crammed with adventure and dramatic intrigue.It's a grand production in the classical style.
Anthony Hopkins plays the elder Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega, who, 20 years earlier, successfully fought Spanish oppression in California as the legendary romantic hero, Zorro.Imprisoned for two decades, he now must find a successor to stop the evil Don Rafael Montero, played by Stuart Wilson.
It's something of a personal vendetta for de la Vega.
Montero is the former Spanish governor of California who cost him his freedom, his wife and his daughter, Elena, played by Zeta-Jones.Now, Montero is making plans to purchase California from Mexico's president, General Santa Anna.
de la Vega settles on Alejandro Murieta, played by Banderas, as his successor to carry on the fight.Murieta is a bandit with a troubled past, but he is soon transformed by Don Diego into a new Zorro who he hopes will help him foil Montero's schemes once and for all.
The stars were out in full force for the premier of the swashbuckling action adventure, "The Mask of Zorro".
Banderas told the media that stepping into the shoes of the legendary swordsman - the caped, masked and sombreroed crusader - was no easy task.Both Zorro the elder and Zorro the younger said shaping up and acquiring fighting flair was tough.
Julietta Rosen, who plays Esperanza, the wife of de la Vega, says she'd grown up with the film: "The Mark of Zorro", starring Tyrone Power.
But "The Mask of Zorro", the newest Zorro film is the creation of director Martin Campbell, who most recently brought the James Bond film franchise back from the dead with "Goldeneye." Campbell said he wanted to give the story both dramatic and emotional credibility and said he was pleased with the results.
The character of Zorro was created by a police reporter named Johnston McCulley in the pages of a pulp novel in 1919.
His creation was a compilation of England's fictitious Scarlet Pimpernel and notorious real-life figures such as the California outlaw Joaquin Murieta, who fought gold-rushers threatening Mexican settlements.
"Zorro" became a screen legend when Douglas Fairbanks Snr.portrayed him in the 1920 silent film, "The Mark of Zorro." Two decades later, Tyrone Power starred in a remake with Basil Rathbone.The character was later featured in five 12-chapter film serials beginning with "Zorro Rides Again" in 1937.In 1957, Walt Disney introduced the Zorro television series, starring Guy Williams, which became one of the most popular shows of the Golden Age of Television.
Banderas, darkly handsome, physically agile and sensitive with the lady he loves, is everything one could want as Zorro.Banderas said he had to forget all the past Zorros and start from scratch.
Banderas' romantic interest in the film, Elena, is played by Catherine Zeta-Jones.She says that if anything Banderas left the set after fighting practice with more bruises than she did.
But it was Hopkins who became a really skilled fighter.By the end of filming he had become quite agile with the bullwhip, which is used in the sequence where he teaches the younger Zorro how to use it as a deadly weapon.
"The Mask of Zorro" opens in theatres throughout the United States on Friday, July 17th. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None