Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2001)
WRITTEN, EDITED, & DIRECTED BY: Robert Rodriguez
MUSIC BY: unknown
STARRING: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Mickey Rourke, Johnny Depp, Rubén Blades, Enrique Iglesias, Willem Dafoe, Marco Leonardi, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Pedro Armenduriz, Perardo Vigil
RUNNING TME: unknown
DISTRIBUTED BY: Columbia Pictures (US), Dimension Films (international)
Plot
The Mariachi returns in this action packed sequel.
Story
Back when Robert was making El Mariachi, thinking it would go direct to video, he planned to make a trilogy of films about the Mariachi. Desperado was the first sequel and this will be the final chapter.
Trivia
The title Once Upon a Time in Mexico is a play on Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1969).
Updates
4/17/01 - Robert mentioned this movie in an interview with The Guardian
"We're making it - I was writing it in bed this morning. Antonio Banderas is in it, and it's kind of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Mariachi series, a big, sprawling movie called Once Upon a Time in Mexico. It's awesome. I can't wait."
5/17/01 - Columbia Pictures and Dimension Films are producing the film. Columbia will handle the US distribution and Dimension will handle the international distribution. The budget will be $30 million, about the same as Spy Kids. Robert will start shooting this movie in Mexico later this month. He will be shooting it with the same kind of Sony 24 frame digital camera as George Lucas shot Star Wars Episode II with. He hopes that the digital technology will speed up production and plans to have the film ready to release for the holidays this year. Quentin Tarantino is expected to have a small role, and Salma Hayek will return if her schedule can accomidate it. Hollywood badboy Mickey Rourke will also co-star. Robert discribes his plans for making this film as: "I plan on returning to a down and dirty, more experimental style of shooting similar to 'El Mariachi,' this summer being the 10-year anniversary of when I shot that film,"
5/31/01 - Johnny Depp and Willem Dafoe are rumored to be negotiating to appear in this movie. Ain't It Cool News reports that this will be the Robert's first film to be shot in 1x2.35 widescreen ratio as opposed to Robert's usual 1x1.85 ratio. Since Robert will be using the same kind of cameras as Star Wars Episode II this is logical, as this is the same ratio as Ep II was shot in. Also in an interview Robert said of Tarantino's role that in this movie actors who were killed in the previous films can return as new characters, like several of the actors from Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. While their has been no official word yet this could mean return appearances for Carlos Gallardo, or Rodriguez regulars like Danny Trejo & Cheech Marin. The movie will be shot in Mexico in the towns of Guanajuato & San Miguel de Allende which have more of a colonial look than the across the boarder town of Acuna from Maraichi and Desperado.
6/9/01 - Entertainment Weekly reports that Panamanian actor/musician Rubén Blades and singer Enrique Iglesias will be in this movie. They also report that Quentin Tarantino will not be appearing because he can't fit in into his schedule. They also say that Johnny Depp will be playing a CIA agent. Robert says that this movie will have several intersecting plot lines, which is another departure from Robert's usual single narrative storys. The movie is now being shot in Guanajuato, also in the cast are Marco Leonardi (of Dusk Till Dawn 3 fame), Mexican actors Pedro Armenduriz & Perardo Vigil; and of course Rodriguez regular Cheech Marin will be in the cast. It looks like Robert decided that he can't have the film out by the end of 2001, he new says he is going for a March release date, which will be about a year from script to screen, and is a remarkably good scrip-to-screen time, espicaly for an action movie.
6/19/01http://rodriguez.al.ru posted some pics from the set that feature Rodriguez regular Danny Trejo on set.