We never imagined that “Sicario”, released in 2015, could one day become a franchise or a trilogy. In fact, you could say that the film’s screenwriter, Taylor Sheridan, made an unofficial trilogy between “Sicario”, “Hell or High Water” and “Wind River”, all in three years. Denis Villeneuve also left the action and drug genre for his own trilogy by adapting “Dune”.
But here we are with what is now a third “Sicario” film in the works by what will be the third filmmaker in the franchise. But what gives the project even more heft than the 2018 sequel “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” is that the original film’s star, Emily Blunt, is now set to return, as first reported by Deadline.
Blunt will star in a third “Sicario” film alongside Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, who both starred in the original and the sequel. The director is Padraic McKinley, who this year directed the western “The Weight” with Ethan Hawke. “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight is also writing the screenplay. Plot details are being kept under wraps.
Landing Blunt while she’s at the height of her stardom is a big plus, especially since “Sicario” was never envisioned as a franchise for which she would be hired to make multiple films. In the original, she played the role of an FBI agent accompanied by a team pursuing a Mexican drug cartel, only to discover that what she was brought in to do was much deeper than she assumed. The film put Villeneuve on the map and grossed just under $85 million worldwide for Lionsgate. The sequel, 2018’s “Day of the Soldado” and directed by Stefano Sollima, was released by Sony and grossed $75.8 million worldwide.
“Sicario 3” doesn’t yet have a studio, so producers Thunder Road and Black Label Media will seek a buyer for a star-studded action vehicle but unlikely intellectual property. Production is expected to begin early next year.
Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill are producing the third “Sicario” for Black Label Media, as are Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee for Thunder Road, and Ed McDonnell also returns as franchise producer.
Blunt is having a big year between “Disclosure Day” for Steven Spielberg and “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” and she will next be seen in “A Quiet Place Part III.”
Deadline was the first to report the news.
Gn entert
