<P> 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 . </P>
<P> 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 . </P>
where was the movie once upon a time in mexico filmed
where was the movie once upon a time in mexico filmed
San Miguel de Allende Guanajuato , Mexico
San Miguel de Allende Guanajuato , Mexico