Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)

Timing: 1:42 (102 min)

6.297/10
2337

6.943/10
43305

6.3/10
176000

All about film

Video 1

Photo 31

Actors and characters

Release date

2003-09-11

Country

United States

Production

Columbia Pictures, Troublemaker Studios, Dimension Films

Genre

Action, Drama, Mystery, Crime, Thriller

Budget

$29 000 000

Revenue

$98 185 582

Website

Director

Robert Rodriguez

Actors

Antonio Banderas, Johnny Depp, Cheech Marin, Salma Hayek Pinault, Mickey Rourke, Willem Dafoe, Eva Mendes, Danny Trejo, Rubén Blades, Enrique Iglesias
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Robert Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avellan, Carlos Gallardo

Operator

Robert Rodriguez

Composer

Robert Rodriguez

Artist

Carlos Benassini

Audition

Mary Vernieu

Editing

Robert Rodriguez
All team (44)

• According to Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino suggested he make a third film about The Musician. Knowing that Rodriguez is a fan of Sergio Leone's films, Tarantino suggested a title that resonated with one of the Italian director's works. Rodriguez stated that he would have eventually made a third film about The Musician anyway, as he had envisioned a trilogy even before filming the first movie. This fact is also confirmed in Rodriguez's book, "Rebel Without a Crew."
• According to Robert Rodriguez, he specifically filmed this movie with HD cameras to test their capabilities.
• Filming of the movie was completed in 2001, but the premiere did not take place until 2003.
• The filming of scenes with Salma Hayek was scheduled in such a way as not to interfere with her work on "Frida" (2002).
• The role of Kukuy, later taken by Danny Trejo, was specifically written for Quentin Tarantino. However, he was unable to participate in the film as he was busy filming "Kill Bill Volume 1" (2003).
• The film's director, Robert Rodriguez, played one of the surgeons performing plastic surgery on William Dafoe's character.
• The role of Sands was written specifically for George Clooney. However, after it became clear that George would be unable to participate in the film, Robert Rodriguez considered the following actors: Kurt Russell, Bruce Willis, Sean Penn, and Nicolas Cage. Ultimately, the role went to Johnny Depp.
• Almost all of Sands's curses were improvised by Johnny Depp.
• The film's script consisted of only 45 pages.
• Initially, the armed forces were supposed to provide the film crew with military equipment. However, when they learned that the film's main villain was a military general, they refused to fulfill their obligations. The military equipment was provided by various collectors.
• Number of corpses: 99.
• In Spanish, "Ajedrez" means "chess".
• "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" is the last screenplay Robert Rodriguez wrote as a member of the Writers Guild of America. After the premiere of the third film about the Musician, he left the organization, stating: "There are too many rules there, and they just take your money." Later, in 2004, Robert also left the Directors Guild of America.
• All scenes involving Johnny Depp were filmed in 9 days. After completing his filming, Johnny didn't want to leave the set, where he had a good time. Therefore, he asked Rodriguez to allow him to play another small role. Robert agreed: Johnny played the role of a priest with whom Antonio Banderas speaks in the church.
• According to the booklet accompanying the film's soundtrack CD, Johnny Depp himself wrote the musical theme for his character (track 9 on the CD), and Antonio Banderas did a cover version of the main musical theme from "The Musician" (1992).
• The weapons intended for use in the film were held up at the Mexican border for two weeks. Therefore, rubber replicas were used during the first two weeks of filming. Initially, to somehow adapt to this prop, Antonio Banderas voiced the gunshots himself each time he had to “shoot,” saying “boom,” “bang…”
• Depp personally handled the selection of costumes and makeup for his character. The famous t-shirts of Agent Sands were purchased in Florida by the actor's sister.
• In the scene where Ruben Blades and Johnny Depp’s characters converse, the latter mentions Jorge Archuletta, a deceased friend of Barillo. That was the name of Blades’ character in "Predator 2".
• The character of Jorge Ramirez is based on the story of a real person, namely Robert Rodriguez’s uncle, a retired FBI agent who lives in Mexico. He was present on set and actively gave advice to his on-screen counterpart.
• Rodriguez said he "assembled" Sands from two characters: the first – "a man with three arms" (one of Rodriguez's scripts), the second – "a man without eyes" (another Rodriguez script, where a man is deprived of his eyes and, with the help of his son, takes revenge on his offenders).
• The film contains several references to Frank Miller's graphic novels from the "Sin City" series. Among them: – The shot where Sands shoots Ahedrez in the stomach after she kisses him is identical to a picture from the novella "A Dame To Kill For". – The shot where Sands' eyes are cut out is identical to a picture from "Hell And Back". – The conversation between the Musician and the priest in the church is identical to a similar scene in "The Hard Goodbye". – The plot with plastic surgery on the face is similar to one of the plots in "A Dame to Kill For".
• The scene where the boy in the yellow t-shirt leads Sands and he bumps his head was done accidentally. During filming, Depp had to film with his eyes closed (so they wouldn't be visible, as they had been cut out), so he accidentally hit his head, but the scene wasn't reshot and was included in the film.
• In the scene where Ruben Blades and Johnny Depp’s characters are talking, Depp mentions Jorge Archuletta, a friend of Barillo who was killed. This was the name of Blades’ character in the film “Predator 2.”
• Rodriguez said he “assembled” Sands from two characters: the first – a “man with three hands” (one of Rodriguez’s scripts), the second – a “man without eyes” (another Rodriguez script, where a man is deprived of his eyes and, with the help of his son, takes revenge on his offenders).