When the first Sicario film hit theaters in October 2015, it wasn't a surprise that it was a terrific film. The film was made by acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve's (Dune, Arrival), who would become one of the best filmmakers in the industry today, and the was written by current master showrunner Taylor Sheridan, who would go on to helm shows like Yellowstone and 1923. On top of that, the cast of Emily Blunt as an idealistic Special Agent Kate Macer, Josh Brolin as a veteran and more cynical operative, Matt Graver, and Benicio del Toro in the role of a Mexican prosecutor-turned-assassin, Alejandro Gillick, is nothing short of stellar. So when they all joined forces to tell the story of an FBI agent tasked with bringing down one of the most powerful drug cartels in Mexico, big things were expected, and they delivered on just about every front. Sicario is a riveting two hours of well-paced action sequences and phenomenal dialogue that ratchets up the tension in all the right ways and allows the audience to become fully invested in the development of its characters.
Sicario 2 Comes Back Down to Earth
There were also high expectations for the sequel, Sicario; Day of the Soldado, as Brolin and del Toro would be reprising their roles and new director Stefano Sollima was coming off his critically acclaimed gritty thriller Suburra , which was released in Italy in 2015. The film was a worthy entry, but as with the majority of sequels, Soldado suffered in comparison to the stylistic masterpiece that Villeneuve created three years prior. It was far from a bomb, however, and turned a nice profit for Lionsgate and Black Label Media that invested an estimated $35 million, and turned in over $76 million at the box office which was only about $10 million less than its predecessor, but it was less than fans of the original were hoping for. Nevertheless, whether based on the strength of the first film or the relative financial success of the second, a third film is awaiting a green light, and we wanted to update the status of the project.
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Who Would Be Coming Back?
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Josh Brolin spoke about the possibility of a third Sicario film and seemed to be optimistic about getting the go-ahead at some point saying, “It’s very much at the forefront of all of our minds. It’s been written and it’s been rewritten. So it’s out there. We think it deserves a third one if we can make it in the way that we want to make it,” Brolin can be seen in the upcoming sequel to Dune, where he will be collaborating with Villeneuve for a third time. So the fact that they are actively working on a script and have put in the time and effort to rewrite it at least once bodes well for the possibility of a third installment of the hardscrabble border war franchise.
Trent Luckenbill, who produced both films has said that a third movie is in the works and that Taylor Sheridan will return for a third time to write it. Luckenbill even teased the possibility of getting Villeneuve back to helm the project as of the beginning of 2023. Black Label Media founder, Molly Smith has confirmed that del Toro and Brolin would be returning for a third time if and when the film starts shooting. It would behoove the project if they could bring back Emily Blunt's Kate Macer character as her absence in the sequel is one of the bigger reasons that it was not as good as the first. It's also noteworthy that interest has been expressed in bringing back Isabela Merced, who played Isabel Reyes in Sicario: Day of the Soldado.
Is There an Audience for It?
The name Sicario carries a lot of weight in Hollywood circles as the first film is widely recognized as one of the finest films of 2015 if not of the entire decade. Considering the sequel made almost as much as the original also bodes well, especially without the master Villeneuve behind the camera. The brand is very strong, so if Brolin is correct about waiting for a green light from a studio, there is definitely a groundswell of support that would make it financially worth someone's time to take a stab at another entry. If Villeneuve returns, that would increase the likelihood of it happening exponentially. So if and when the cameras start rolling, we will be here to pass along all the pertinent details as they become available.
