Once Upon a Time in Mexico - wikipedia Once Upon a Time in Mexico Once Upon a Time in Mexico Theatrical release poster Directed by Robert Rodriguez Produced by Robert Rodriguez Elizabeth Avellán Carlos Gallardo Written by Robert Rodriguez Starring Antonio Banderas Salma Hayek Johnny Depp Mickey Rourke Eva Mendes Danny Trejo Enrique Iglesias Marco Leonardi Cheech Marin Rubén Blades Willem Dafoe Music by Robert Rodriguez Cinematography Robert Rodriguez Edited by Robert Rodriguez Production company Troublemaker Studios Distributed by Columbia Pictures ( United States ) Dimension Films ( International ) Release date September 12, 2003 ( 2003 - 09 - 12 ) Running time 101 minutes Country United States Language English Spanish Budget $29 million Box office $98.1 million Once Upon a Time in Mexico ( also known as Desperado 2 ) is a 2003 American contemporary western action film written, co-produced, edited, scored, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the third and final film in Rodriguez 's Mexico Trilogy, and is a sequel to El Mariachi and Desperado. The film features Antonio Banderas in his second and final performance as El Mariachi. In the film, El Mariachi is recruited by CIA agent Sheldon Sands ( Johnny Depp ) to kill Armando Barillo ( Willem Dafoe ), a Mexican drug lord who is planning a coup d'état against the President of Mexico. At the same time, El Mariachi seeks revenge against a corrupt general responsible for the death of his wife, Carolina ( Salma Hayek ). It was Rodriguez ' first big budget film to be shot in digital HD. Once Upon a Time in Mexico received positive reviews but was criticized for reducing its protagonist to an almost secondary character in his own trilogy and for having a convoluted plot. In the special features of the film 's DVD, Rodriguez explained this was intended, as he wanted this to be The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the trilogy. Once Upon a Time in Mexico grossed $98.1 million. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Soundtrack 5 Television adaptation 6 Release 7 Reception 8 References 9 External links Plot El Mariachi is recruited by CIA agent Sheldon Sands to kill General Emiliano Marquez, a corrupt Mexican Army officer who has been hired by Mexican drug lord Armando Barillo to assassinate the President of Mexico and overthrow the government. Many years before, El Mariachi and his wife Carolina confronted Marquez in a shootout and wounded the general ; in retaliation, Marquez took the lives of Carolina and their daughter in an ambush. In addition to El Mariachi, Sands persuades former FBI agent Jorge Ramírez to come out of retirement and kill Barillo, who had murdered his partner Archuleta in the past. Furthermore, AFN operative Ajedrez is assigned by Sands to tail Barillo. While monitoring Barillo 's activities, Ramírez meets Billy Chambers, an American fugitive who has been living under the protection of Barillo, but can no longer stomach the horrible tasks he 's been forced to carry out for him. Ramírez convinces Chambers he will provide him protection in exchange for getting closer to Barillo by tagging Chambers ' pet chihuahua with a hidden microphone, and Chambers agrees to complete the deal by surrendering to U.S. authorities once Barillo has been taken down. Sands ' assistant, Cucuy, originally hired by to keep an eye on El Mariachi, instead tranquilizes El Mariachi and turns him over to Barillo, also offering to reveal the details of Sands 's plan. Cucuy, however, is promptly killed by Chambers while El Mariachi escapes from captivity and calls his friends Lorenzo and Fideo to assist him in his mission. While monitoring Barillo 's activity outside a hospital, Ramírez notices armed men storming the building and follows suit. He discovers that a group of doctors have been gunned down and Barillo has bled to death as a result of a botched facial reconstruction, but realizes that the corpse on the operating table is a body double before he is knocked out and kidnapped by the real Barillo and Ajedrez, who reveals herself to be Barillo 's daughter. Sands realizes his mission has been compromised, but is too late, as he is captured by Barillo and Ajedrez -- who drill out his eyes before sending him out. Despite his blindness, he manages to gun down a hitman tailing him with the aid of a chiclet boy. As the village celebrates the Day of the Dead during the President 's visit, Marquez and his army storm in and attack the presidential palace. Marquez 's troops, however, are met with resistance from not only the President 's bodyguards, but the villagers and the Mariachis. Sands had instructed El Mariachi to allow the President to be killed before attacking Marquez, but the Mariachis, agreeing that the President is a good man, intervene early and protect him. Marquez enters the presidential palace, only to once again confront El Mariachi, who shoots out his kneecaps before finishing him off with a headshot. Ramírez, who was released from captivity by Chambers, faces Barillo. After Barillo guns down Chambers, Ramírez and El Mariachi kill the drug lord. Sands manages to shoot the sadistic Ajedrez dead outside the presidential palace. Ultimately, Lorenzo and Fideo walk away with the cash that Barillo was using to pay Marquez, and escort the president to safety. Ramírez says goodbye to Sands and walks away, having avenged his partner 's death. El Mariachi then gives his share of the cash to his village before walking into the sunset. Cast Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi Salma Hayek as Carolina Johnny Depp as Sheldon Jeffrey Sands Mickey Rourke as Billy Chambers Eva Mendes as Ajedrez Barillo Danny Trejo as Cucuy Enrique Iglesias as Lorenzo Marco Leonardi as Fideo Cheech Marin as Belini Rubén Blades as Jorge Ramírez Willem Dafoe as Armando Barillo Pedro Armendáriz, Jr. as President Tony Valdes as Chicle Boy Gerardo Vigil as General Marquez Miguel Couturier as Dr. Guevera Julio Oscar Mechoso as Nicholas In a 2003 issue of Rolling Stone, Depp was named as one of its `` People of the Year '', and gave an interview in which he briefly discussed his role as Sands : `` The idea behind him is there was this guy I used to know in Hollywood, in the business, who on the outside was very charming -- soft - spoken and almost hypnotic in the rhythm he used to speak. He refused to call me Johnny -- always called me John. You knew this guy was aiming to fuck you over, but somehow you stuck around because he was just so fascinating to watch. '' Depp also said in an Entertainment Weekly article that he `` imagine ( d ) this guy wore really cheesy tourist shirts '', that he had a `` sideline obsession with Broadway '', and that he favored strange, obvious disguises -- all three qualities can be observed in the film. It was also revealed in the director 's commentary on the DVD that Depp himself came up with the character 's first and middle names. Production Made on a US $29 million budget, the film was shot in May 2001 before Spy Kids 2 : The Island of Lost Dreams ( 2002 ) and Spy Kids 3 - D : Game Over ( 2003 ) in order to avoid a potential Screen Actors Guild strike. Shooting took place over seven weeks in San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato, Mexico. It was the first big budget film to be shot in high definition digital video. Rodriguez chose to shoot on digital after George Lucas, who was shooting Star Wars : Episode II -- Attack of the Clones, showed him early footage shot digitally. Impressed, Rodriguez chose to shoot digitally, but he knew he did not have enough time to shoot Spy Kids 2. Instead, he pitched a sequel to Desperado to Miramax and wrote a script in six days. The initial draft was 65 pages long, which he padded with a subplot borrowed from an unproduced short film. When Miramax expressed hesitation over the added subplot, he readily removed it. His primary influence was Sergio Leone 's Dollars Trilogy, specifically The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Rodriguez said shooting digitally saved time and money, simplified the filming process, and rendered 35 mm film obsolete for him. Soundtrack Original Motion Picture Soundtrack : Once Upon a Time in Mexico Soundtrack album by various artists Released September 2003 Genre Soundtrack Rock Latin rock Length 51 : 44 Label Milan Records Robert Rodriguez film soundtrack chronology Spy Kids 3 - D : Game Over ( 2003 ) Spy Kids 3 - D : Game Over 2003 Once Upon a Time in Mexico ( 2003 ) Sin City ( 2005 ) Sin City 2005 Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic link The film 's score includes songs composed by director Robert Rodriguez and performed by a group of musicians gathered specifically for the soundtrack recording. Tracks performed by the group includes `` Malagueña '' with guitar by Brian Setzer and `` Siente Mi Amor '', with singing by Salma Hayek. Track 9, `` Sands ' Theme '', credited to `` Tonto 's Giant Nuts '', was written by Johnny Depp. Additional music includes Juno Reactor 's `` Pistolero '', `` Me Gustas Tú '' by Manu Chao, and `` Cuka Rocka '' by Rodriguez ' own rock band, Chingon. On the DVD director commentary, Robert Rodriguez states that he requested that each of the main actors give him four or eight notes of a melody for their character, but Depp presented him with the entire track. `` Malagueña '' ( Brian Setzer ) -- 4 : 22 `` Traeme Paz '' ( Patricia Vonne ) -- 2 : 56 `` Eye Patch '' ( Alex Ruiz ) -- 1 : 51 `` Yo Te Quiero '' ( Marcos Loya ) -- 3 : 48 `` Guitar Town '' ( Robert Rodriguez ) -- 2 : 04 `` Church Shootout '' ( Robert Rodriguez ) -- 1 : 38 `` Pistolero '' ( Juno Reactor ) -- 3 : 38 `` Me Gustas Tú '' ( Manu Chao ) -- 3 : 49 `` Sands ( Theme ) '' ( Tonto 's Giant Nuts ) -- 3 : 24 `` Dias de Los Angeles '' ( Rick Del Castillo ) -- 5 : 08 `` The Man with No Eyes '' ( Robert Rodriguez ) -- 2 : 09 `` Mariachi vs. Marquez '' ( Robert Rodriguez ) -- 1 : 33 `` Flor del Mal '' ( Tito Larriva & Steven Hufsteter ) -- 3 : 13 `` Chicle Boy '' ( Robert Rodriguez ) -- 1 : 30 `` Coup de Etat '' ( Robert Rodriguez ) -- 3 : 02 `` El Mariachi '' ( Robert Rodriguez ) -- 1 : 22 `` Siente Mi Amor '' ( Salma Hayek ) -- 4 : 24 `` Cuka Rocka '' ( Chingon ) -- 1 : 44 Television adaptation Sony 's AXN channel confirmed that it will be airing a TV series adaptation of El Mariachi franchise. The series was to have premiered on March 20, 2014. Release Once Upon a Time in Mexico was released on September 12, 2003 in 3,282 theaters with an opening weekend gross of USD $23.4 million. It went on to make $56.4 million in North America and $41.8 in the rest of the world for a combined total of $98.2 million on a $29 million budget. Reception Rotten Tomatoes reports that 68 % of 163 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review ; the average rating is 6.3 / 10. The site 's consensus reads : `` Violent, pulpy, loopy fun, with Depp stealing the show. '' Metacritic rated it 56 / 100 based on 34 reviews. Chicago Sun - Times film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, `` Like Leone 's movie, the Rodriguez epic is more interested in the moment, in great shots, in surprises and ironic reversals and closeups of sweaty faces, than in a coherent story. '' A.O. Scott wrote in his review for The New York Times, `` But in the end, the punched - up editing and vibrant color schemes start to grow tiresome, and Mr. Rodriguez, bored with his own gimmickry and completely out of ideas, responds by pushing the violence to needlessly grotesque extremes. '' In her review for USA Today, Claudia Puig wrote, `` In Mexico, Rodriguez has fashioned a swaggering fantasy that pays homage to spaghetti Westerns such as Sergio Leone 's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Plenty of blood is shed, lots of powerful artillery is fired, and action sequences provide astounding car crashes and fiery explosions. '' Entertainment Weekly gave the film a `` B '' rating and praised Depp 's performance with its `` winking grace notes of Brandoesque flakery... is as minimal and laid - back as his Pirates of the Caribbean turn was deep - dish theatrical ''. References Jump up ^ `` ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO ( 15 ) ''. British Board of Film Classification. September 2, 2003. Retrieved March 10, 2016. ^ Jump up to : `` Once Upon a Time in Mexico ''. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2013 - 08 - 22. Jump up ^ `` News ''. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012 - 02 - 10. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Aldama, Frederick Luis ( 2014 ). The Cinema of Robert Rodriguez. University of Texas Press. p. 47. ISBN 9780292761230. Jump up ^ McKernan, Brian ; Zahn, Bob ( 2012 ). Ingle, Zachary, ed. Robert Rodriguez : Interviews. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 75 -- 82. ISBN 9781617032721. Jump up ^ Jurek, Thom. `` Once Upon a Time in Mexico ( Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ) ''. Allmusic. Retrieved 2015 - 06 - 19. Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Once upon a Time in Mexico ( 2003 ) ''. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015 - 06 - 19. Jump up ^ `` Once Upon a Time in Mexico ''. Metacritic. Retrieved 2015 - 06 - 19. Jump up ^ Ebert, Roger ( September 12, 2003 ). `` Once Upon A Time in Mexico ''. Chicago Sun - Times. Retrieved 2008 - 07 - 14. Jump up ^ Scott, A.O. ( September 12, 2003 ). `` Guitar in His Hand, Revenge in His Heart ''. New York Times. Retrieved 2008 - 07 - 14. Jump up ^ Puig, Claudia ( September 11, 2003 ). `` Depp fans flames in quirky Mexico ''. USA Today. Retrieved 2008 - 07 - 14. Jump up ^ Gleiberman, Owen ( September 5, 2003 ). `` Once Upon A Time in Mexico ''. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008 - 07 - 14. External links Once Upon a Time in Mexico on IMDb Once Upon a Time in Mexico at Box Office Mojo Once Upon a Time in Mexico at Rotten Tomatoes Once Upon a Time in Mexico at Metacritic Works of Robert Rodriguez Films Bedhead ( short film, 1991 ) El Mariachi ( 1992 ) Roadracers ( 1994 ) Desperado ( 1995 ) Four Rooms ( Segment : `` The Misbehavers '', 1995 ) From Dusk till Dawn ( 1996 ) The Faculty ( 1998 ) Spy Kids ( 2001 ) Spy Kids 2 : The Island of Lost Dreams ( 2002 ) Spy Kids 3 - D : Game Over ( 2003 ) Once Upon a Time in Mexico ( 2003 ) Sin City ( 2005 ) The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3 - D ( 2005 ) Planet Terror ( 2007 ) Shorts : The Adventures of the Wishing Rock ( 2009 ) Machete ( 2010 ) Spy Kids : All the Time in the World ( 2011 ) Machete Kills ( 2013 ) Sin City : A Dame to Kill For ( 2014 ) Alita : Battle Angel ( 2018 ) 100 Years ( 2115 ) Films produced From Dusk Till Dawn 2 : Texas Blood Money ( 1999 ) Death Proof ( 2007 ) Predators ( 2010 ) Television From Dusk till Dawn : The Series ( 2014 -- ) The Director 's Chair ( 2014 -- ) See also Chingon Mexican Spaghetti Western Mexico Trilogy Spy Kids franchise Rebel Without a Crew ( 1995 ) Grindhouse ( 2007 ) El Rey Network Troublemaker Studios Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Once_Upon_a_Time_in_Mexico&oldid=808399702 '' Categories : 2003 films 2000s action thriller films 2000s Western ( genre ) films American films American action thriller films English - language films Spanish - language films Central Intelligence Agency in fiction Films about Mexican drug cartels Films about music and musicians Films about revenge Gun fu films Heroic bloodshed films Mexico Trilogy Neo-Western films Sequel films Works about coups d'état Columbia Pictures films Dimension Films films Troublemaker Studios films Film scores by Robert Rodriguez Films directed by Robert Rodriguez Films produced by Elizabeth Avellán Films produced by Robert Rodriguez Films set in Mexico Films shot in Mexico Screenplays by Robert Rodriguez Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from August 2017 Use mdy dates from March 2016 Articles with hAudio microformats Album infoboxes lacking a cover Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Articles with album ratings that need to be turned into prose Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 2 November 2017, at 16 : 59. 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Question: where was the movie once upon a time in mexico filmed
Answer: San Miguel de Allende