HOPKINS PLAYS AGING BLADE IN NEW `ZORRO'.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas are finally wrapping work in Mexico on ``The Mask of Zorro,'' after a five-month shoot that saw the budget bulge enough for Sony to have to cough up extra millions for what was originally slated to be a $65 million feature.

``It's a big picture, with big explosions,'' says an insider.

It also marks a big departure for Hopkins. He plays Zorro from age 40 to 60-something and, after extensive coaching from experts in their fields, has ended up as a whiz at both fencing and the bull whip. As the story goes, Zorro is jailed at 40, and, after his release 20 years later, runs into a man he had known as an 8-year-old boy. He teaches him - Banderas - to be the new Zorro.

As if this weren't action enough for Hopkins, he managed to use two one-week breaks from ``Zorro'' to play John Quincy Adams in ``Amistad,'' with Steven Spielberg directing. And, oh yes, Spielberg - executive producer of ``The Mask of Zorro'' - showed him a rough cut of ``The Lost Children of Berlin,'' the director's HBO documentary about a group of Jewish children in Berlin during World War II, and the reunion they held in that city. Hopkins volunteered to be its voice - and squeezed in narration of the film before returning to ``Zorro.''

And now, with ``The Mask of Zorro'' wrapped, is he looking forward to a break? No way. Next week he starts ``Meet Joe Black,'' a remake of ``Death Takes a Holiday,'' with Brad Pitt, playing a deaf global media mogul. It's supposed to be yet another departure for the actor for whom there seems to be no bounds.

A long trail home

Shari Belafonte is finally realizing her dream of bringing the lives of America's black cowboys to screen.

She reveals she has a go-ahead from Showtime for what could be a series of black cowboy movies and that ``we've got a full 26 stories lined up, waiting to go.'' Forest Whitaker, Vanessa Williams, Queen Latifah and, of course, her father, Harry Belafonte, have expressed interest in participating in the dramas Shari will co-produce with Graystone Communications. Shari, who's been trying to bring the project to life for seven years, says, ``Hopefully, we can start production in September or October. We anticipate the first film being ready for airing for Black History Month next year.''

Belafonte, who's taking a two-week break from her black cowboys project while she co-stars in a syndicated two-hour ``Babylon 5'' TV movie, reports the initial western film will be ``about Mary Fields - better known as Stagecoach Mary. She was the first black stagecoach driver.''

Summer jobs

Shirley MacLaine will be making her feature film directorial debut with the romantic comedy-drama ``Kingdom Come'' - and she's been so determined to get the project going, she's turned down a couple of major film offers. MacLaine, who co-wrote the ``Kingdom Come'' script with Christopher Lofton, is doing a bit of script polishing now, and is starting the casting search. With any luck, the movie, which is being made for producers David Kirkpatrick and Bernie Williams, should come before the cameras by summer's end.

David Schwimmer's been a busy guy during his ``Friends'' hiatus - with parts in the big-screen ``Apt Pupil'' and small-screen (HBO) ``Silicone Wars.'' Now comes word he'll jump into another movie in Chicago in July. Called ``Kissing a Fool,'' the picture deals with a group of guys who lose one of their buddies to - gasp! - marriage. Sounds sort of ``Friends''-ian.

The videoland view

The in-the-works HBO/NYC ``Pentagon Wars'' project will turn the real-life saga of the misbegotten Bradley Fighting Vehicle into what might be called a black farce. Danny DeVito's Jersey Films is partnered in the production, which aims to show - wittily - the behind-closed-doors behavior of the ambitious, greedy, amoral people who would push military equipment that is actually hazardous to the soldiers it's supposedly designed to protect.

Triple play

Jay Leno's minions have been casting for a Marv Albert look-alike, a Frank Gifford look-alike and an Al Gore look-alike for some soon-due ``Tonight Show'' mischief.

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--2) In ``The Mask of Zorro,'' Anthony Hopkins, left, plays an older Don Diego, who after a 20-year prison term, reunites with Antonio Banderas and trains him to be the new Zorro.

(3) Shirley MacLaine is set to make her directing debut in ``Kingdom Come,'' a comedy-drama.