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

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Once Upon a Time in Mexico (also known as Desperado 2) is a 2003 American contemporary western action film written, co-produced, cinematographied, 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.

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.