Martin Campbell's The Mask of Zorro is a retelling of Johnston McCulley's final Zorro story, where Don Diego de la Vega passes on the mask of his hero to a younger fighter, Alejandro Murrieta.

This was the first of two Zorro films directed by Campbell, both starring Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Steven Spielberg acted as executive producer on The Mask of Zorro, after being originally attached to direct. Stanley Kubrick suggested that Spielberg hire filmmaker Julio Medem to direct the film, but Medem wasn't interested. Robert Rodriguez was also considered for the job, but TriStar did not agree with his violent vision for the film.

Spielberg also offered the role of Elena Montero to Shakira and Izabella Scorupco before it went to relative unknown Catherine Zeta-Jones.