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Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Directed by	Robert Rodriguez
Produced by	Robert Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avellan, Carlos Gallardo
Written by	Robert Rodriguez
Starring	Antonio Banderas Salma Hayek Johnny Depp Willem Dafoe Mickey Rourke Eva Mendes Danny Trejo
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures Dimension Films
Release date(s)	September 12, 2003 (USA)
Running time	102 min.
Language	English / Spanish
Budget	$29,000,000
Preceded by	Desperado
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Once Upon a Time in Mexico is a 2003 action film written, edited and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the final film in the "Mariachi Trilogy", which includes El Mariachi and Desperado. Antonio Banderas reprises his role as El Mariachi. The film also stars Johnny Depp, Salma Hayek, Willem Dafoe, Enrique Iglesias, Mickey Rourke, Eva Mendes and Rubén Blades.

The film received mostly positive reviews, but was criticized for reducing El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) to an almost secondary character in his own trilogy, and also for having what some viewed as a convoluted plot. However, in the special features of the film's DVD, Robert Rodriguez has explained that this was intended, as he wanted this to be the The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the trilogy.

The film holds the box office record for being the most improved second sequel of all-time grossing 122% more than Desperado. This film was shot before Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over in order to avoid a potential Screen Actors Guild strike. It was the first film Rodriguez ever shot in HD.

Tagline:

• The time has come.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Box office 4 Soundtrack 4.1 Track listing 5 References 6 External links

The plot centers on El Mariachi (Banderas), who is recruited by CIA Agent Sands (Depp) to kill General Marquez. Marquez had murdered El Mariachi's wife and child and has been hired by Mexican drug lord Armando Barillo to assassinate the Mexican President. Sands recruits retired FBI Agent Jorge Ramirez to kill Barillo, as Barillo had been responsible for the death of Ramirez's partner, Agent Archuleta. Sands also hires AFN Agent Ajedrez to tail Barillo.

As the plot unfolds, informants begin to turn on Sands. On the day of the coup against the President, he finds himself captured and blinded by his captors. With the help of a young gum-selling boy, however, he manages to exact his revenge. Meanwhile, El Mariachi recruits his two friends to assist him in rescuing the President. El Mariachi kills Marquez by shooting both his kneecaps and then shooting him in the head, avenging his lost wife and daughter, and goes on to assist Ramirez in killing Barillo (Who is El Mariachi's brother) - who falls off a balcony when El Mariachi shoots him with a shotgun.

The movie ends with El Mariachi walking on a desert road with the president's bandadora.

Actor	Role
Antonio Banderas	El Mariachi
Salma Hayek	Carolina
Johnny Depp	Sheldon Jeffrey Sands
Eva Mendes	Ajedrez
Danny Trejo	Cucuy
Enrique Iglesias	Lorenzo
Marco Leonardi	Fideo
Rubén Blades	FBI Agent Jorge Ramirez
Willem Dafoe	Armando Barillo
Mickey Rourke	Billy Chambers
Gerardo Vigil	General Emiliano Marquez
Miguel Couturier	Dr. Guevera
Cheech Marin	Belini
Pedro Armendáriz Jr.	President
Julio Oscar Mechoso	Nicholas
Tony Valdes	Chiclet boy

US gross domestic earnings	US$ 56,359,780
International earnings	US$ 41,825,802
Gross Worldwide earnings	US$ 98,185,582

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Soundtrack by various artists
Released	September, 2003
Genre	Soundtrack Rock Latin rock
Length	51:44
Label	Milan Records
Professional reviews
All Music Guide Link
Robert Rodriguez film soundtrack chronology
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) Sin City (2005)

The score of Once Upon a Time in Mexico 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 vocal by Brian Setzer and "Siente Mi Amor", with singing by Salma Hayek. Track 9, "Sands' Theme," is credited to "Tonto's Giant Nuts" but was in fact written by Johnny Depp (who invented the name 'Tonto's Giant Nuts' as a joke. It is not the name of his band, as commonly thought). 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.

Additional music includes Juno Reactor's "Pistolero," "Me Gustas Tu" by Manu Chao and "Cuka Rocka" by Rodriguez' own rock band, Chingon.

1. "Malagueña" (Brian Setzer) – 4:22
2. "Traeme Paz" (Patricia Vonne) – 2:56
3. "Eye Patch" (Alex Ruiz) – 1:51
4. "Yo Te Quiero" (Marcos Loya) – 3:48
5. "Guitar Town" (Robert Rodriguez) – 2:04
6. "Church Shootout" (Robert Rodriguez) – 1:38
7. "Pistolero" (Juno Reactor) – 3:38
8. "Me Gustas Tu" (Manu Chao) – 3:49
9. "Sands (Theme)" (Tonto's Giant Nuts) – 3:24
10. "Dias de Los Angeles" (Rick Del Castillo) – 5:08
11. "The Man With No Eyes" (Robert Rodriguez) – 2:09
12. "Mariachi vs. Marquez" (Robert Rodriguez) – 1:33
13. "Flor del Mal" (Tito Larriva) – 3:13
14. "Chicle Boy" (Robert Rodriguez) – 1:30
15. "Coup de Etat" (Robert Rodriguez) – 3:02
16. "El Mariachi" (Robert Rodriguez) – 1:22
17. "Siente Mi Amor" (Salma Hayek) – 4:24
18. "Cuka Rocka" (Chingon) – 1:44

• Once Upon a Time in Mexico at the Internet Movie Database
• Boxoffice information

v • d • e Films of Robert Rodriguez
Mexico Trilogy	El Mariachi (1992) • Desperado (1995) • Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
Spy Kids trilogy	Spy Kids (2001) • Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) • Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
Sin City	Sin City (2005) • Sin City 2 (in development)
Other films	Bedhead (1991) • Roadracers (1994) • Four Rooms (1995) • From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) • The Faculty (1998) • The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D (2005) • Grindhouse: Planet Terror (2007) • Machete (2007) • Barbarella (in development) •
Other works	Rebel Without a Crew (1995 autobiography) • Chingon (band)

Preceded by Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star

Box office number-one films of 2003 (USA) September 14, 2003

Succeeded by Underworld