Never mind the critics who called the film an overbaked Mexican pasta. Once Upon A Time In Mexico chased away the September box-office blues to earn a decent $24 million in three days.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez, the film is about the mythical guitar-slinging hero El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas) in the final instalment of the El Mariachi/Desperado trilogy.

El Mariachi fights his way through a rugged landscape on the blood trail of Barrillo (Willem Dafoe), a cartel kingpin who is planning to overthrow Mexico's president. One of the highlights of the film is the powerful and melodramatic performance by Johnny Depp as a corrupt CIA agent.

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Depp had yet another film on the top 10 chart, Pirates Of The Caribbean, the fifth highest grosser of the week, with a $288 million total.

Banderas also featured in the recent hit Spy Kids 3, which is winding down with about $110 million in North America. That film too was made by Rodriguez. The Texas-based filmmaker won multiple caps for both films, apart from writing, producing and directing. He worked behind the camera and in the editing room.

The top three positions this week have been taken by three newcomers with varying results. The crime comedy Matchstick Men, with a highly colourful performance by Nicolas Cage as a conman who has to deal with the sudden arrival of a teenage daughter he never knew existed, took a middling $13 million. The film, directed by Ridley Scott, could sink or swim depending on word of mouth in the coming days.

But the real winner was Cabin Fever, a film made for just about $1 million and which went on to gross a potent $8.4 million. The film, about a flesh-eating parasite, became profitable in just about three days. It was the third highest grosser of the weekend.

Though not among the 10 films, the mature comedy about relationships, Lost In Translation, found an encouraging reception in its first tryout. The Bill Murray drama that opened in two dozen theatres grossed a robust $900,000. The second feature film directed by Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides),  Lost In Translation adds at least 120 theatres next Friday.

At the sixth position, following Dickie Roberts and Pirates, was yet another low-budget winner. The $25 million body-switching comedy Freaky Friday has now grossed $102 million. Expect the film to be around for another month before getting ready for a DVD and video launch.

The box office this week:

Rank	Film	Weekend gross	Total gross	Number of weeks
1	Once Upon A Time In Mexico	$24 million	$24m	New
2	Matchstick Men	$13.2 million	$13.2m	New
3	Cabin Fever	$8.4 million	$8.4m	New
4	Dickie Roberts	$5 million (< 25% from previous weekend)	$12.8m	2
5	Pirates Of The Caribbean	$4.8 million (< 12% from previous weekend)	$288m	10
6	Freaky Friday	$4.1 million (< 18% from previous weekend)	$102m	6
7	Jeepers Creepers 2	$3 million (< 54% from previous weekend)	$31.8m	3
8	Open Range	$2.8 million (< 33% from previous weekend)	$53.5m	5
9	S.W.A.T.	$2.7 million (< 38% from previous weekend)	$112.8m	6
10	Seabiscuit	$2.65 million (< 25% from previous weekend)	$113m	8