Few would have predicted that Sicario, the pulse-pounding 2015 action thriller starring Emily Blunt, would go on to spawn a sequel. Fewer still could have guessed that Lionsgate would go all-in on Denis Villeneuve’s narcotics gem, teeing up plans for a trilogy of anthology films that will continue through Soldado.
That’s the official title currently attached to Sicario 2 which will, according to screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, channel the vicious intensity of the 2015 crime drama in all of its nail-biting glory. Yes, expect to be rooted to the edge of your seat by the time Soldado checks into theaters, as Sheridan recently told Collider that Sicario is “a movie about American policy and the way that we police, and [Sicario 2] is that on steroids.”
Chatting with the outlet while doing the press rounds for neo-Western thriller Hell and High Water, Sheridan shed light on Lionsgate’s gritty action series as it begins to take shape.
“Lionsgate understood that they bought something that was a spec [on the first film]. So there was a certain amount of latitude they had to give me [on the sequel]. What usually would be a long meeting about what’s this character about, what’s his arc—we didn’t have that. They trusted me to just go do it, and with Sicario, which I’m really proud of, it really approaches some difficult subjects. I didn’t want to demean that with the second one. So I really wrote something I double dared them to actually make. Ten times more unsentimental, more vicious and really reflective… It’s funny a lot of people think Sicario’s about the drug war and the cartels. It’s not. It’s a movie about American policy and the way that we police and [Sicario 2] is that on steroids.”
With Denis Villeneuve committed to long-in-development sequel Blade Runner 2 and Emily Blunt not returning, Soldado will instead be helmed by Stefano Sollima. Benicio Del Toro’s malicious Alejandro Gillick will take point as the sequel’s lead, with Josh Brolin reprising his role as a shady CIA operative.