It’s been eight years since director Denis Villeneuve unveiled his masterpiece of an action thriller Sicario — modern cinema’s answer to Michael Mann’s Heat — and five years since its perfunctory sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado (the latter of which was helmed by Stefano Sollima(. But when will the world finally get to witness Sicario 3?
As a direct consequence of both Villeneuve and powerhouse cinematographer Roger Deakins’ absence, Day of the Soldado garnered less than favourable reviews and proved to be a commercial flop. It generated under $76 million at the international box office against a $45 million budget before marketing costs.
And yet there’s still been considerable interest surrounding a third installment. Lest we forget, the original managed to captivate global amounts of attention, turn a profit, and rack up three Academy Award nominations. So there’s no reason why the magic can’t be recaptured by a third Sicario film… right?
Everything We Know About Sicario 3 (2023)
Has Sicario 3 been confirmed?
It’s been a rollercoaster journey for those waiting on another Sicario movie (and those involved with the film’s production).
On June 2018, prior to the release of Sicario: Day of the Soldado, producer Trent Luckinbill confirmed Sicario 3 was in development with Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan toiling away on a potential story for the trilogy completer. For the uninitiated, Sheridan penned the screenplay for the first film and its sequel.
Luckinbill also alluded to the possibility of Denis Villeneuve settling back into the director’s chair. Although that has obviously become less and less likely as he’s become one of the most in-demand auteurs kicking around Hollywood. Dune Part II wasn’t exactly going to make itself.
After quite a lengthy period of radio silence, three extremely promising updates were offered over the course of a year, keeping the hope of actually seeing Sicario 3 alive.
The first occurred in January 2021 when a title was revealed — Sicario: Capos (whether that’s still the title is currently unclear).
The second occurred a few weeks thereafter when another producer, Molly Smith, assured us something was definitely on the boilerplate.
Months later, franchise star Josh Brolin shared a key revelation that sent the internet into a meltdown.
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“I just don’t know when we’ll do it. We may be 80 [Laughs.]. But it’s very much at the forefront of all of our minds,” Josh Brolin, who had since reunited with Villeneuve for the Dune duology, told The Hollywood Reporter.
“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. So don’t give up [hope]!”
But the Brolin giveth and the Brolin taketh away.
In another interview with Variety, the man behind CIA operative Matt Graver provided a disappointing revelation while lamenting the economic landscape of cinema.
Josh Brolin said: “[The] people that I got to work with aren’t necessarily doing a lot of films now. All these people that you’re talking about, Paul Thomas Anderson, it’s tough for him to do a film.”
“Paul’s become a really close friend, and I loved working with him on Inherent Vice. I can’t wait to see what he does next. But I think he knows that these types of movies are not necessarily getting made so much anymore, $20 to 45 million dollar movies.”
“Would No Country For Old Men get made today? Would True Grit get made today? Would Sicario get made today?”
“Sicario 3, we’ve been trying to get that right and get that going, but why hasn’t it happened? How long can you wait? A tough movie to get made even though the two made money, and people are asking about it all the time.”
Suffice it to say, we were heartbroken. Until this month…
The show goes on (when the strikes are over)
During an interview with The Messenger, franchise producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee confirmed Sicario 3 was back in active development.
“Oh yeah,” Iwanyk replied when prompted about whether the threequel was happening; before noting the since-concluded Writers Guild of America strike was the latest obstacle holding everything up.
Lee added: “When we can continue writing it. It was pencils down, but the idea is awesome.”
Iwanyk, who is also a franchise producer for the John Wick universe, also confirmed Benicio del Toro is set to reprise his role as former Mexican prosecutor turned black-ops assassin Alejandro Gillick.
“I can’t wait for Sicario 3. I could watch Benicio play that guy forever,” he said.
“I mean, I can watch Benicio in anything, but with that character, it doesn’t get old.”
More on the casting later.
What could the third Sicario movie be about?
The final scene of Sicario: Day of the Soldado presents a handful of compelling story opportunities. Which only makes the imminent possibility of Sicario: Capos that much more tantalising.
A year after being left for dead when young gang member Miguel Hernandez (Elijah Rodriguez) shoots him as part of a cartel initiation process, a recovered Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro) approaches the teen criminal in a Texas mall and says: “So… you want to be a sicario? Let’s talk about your future.” Groan. Cut to black.
Horribly written line of dialogue aside, exploring a potential apprentice relationship between Alejandro and Miguel appears to be the most obvious route. Based on the title Sicario: Capos, we can only assume Alejandro intends to work his way up the cartel’s chain of command from soldados (“soldiers”) to capos (“bosses”).
He won’t exactly be ending the drug war singlehandedly, especially not as a disavowed asset presumed dead by the US government. But he’ll certainly leave a bloody trail.
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Mission: Sicario?
While it may or may not inform the narrative’s dimensions, producer Molly Smith revealed Mission: Impossible franchise director and serial Tom Cruise collaborator, Christopher McQuarrie, was a “partner” on this production to ensure the very best people are involved.
“But we don’t know who’s going to direct yet. It’s all gonna be about timing,” said Smith.
“We’ve got obviously a wealth of great partners on it, everybody from Taylor Sheridan to Chris McQuarrie as a partner on it, but it’ll all be about the timing and what aligns with everyone’s schedule.”
Given he’s among Hollywood’s busiest creatives, however, Taylor Sheridan may be taking on a reduced role.
“He is so busy, and he stays close to it, and will obviously have input, too. Then it’s just a question of when we get schedules lined up and all of that starting to have real conversations to see who’s available and who wants to do it,” added Trent Luckinbill.
“So certainly, I think everybody that’s ever been involved with this has stayed really close and has stayed fans of it. So, we’ll just push forward and see what lines up and who lines up in our window.”
Do we know the Sicario 3 cast members?
In an exclusive interview with Collider, producer Molly Smith revealed that not only are there plans to reunite the franchise’s original trio — Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt — but all three are actually on board (pending schedule alignments):
“Our idea is to get the cast back together with Benicio, Emily, and Josh, and we’ve got a great story to tell,” she told the publication’s Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub.
“Benicio, by nature of just working with us most recently [for Reptile], has been probably the closest to it at the moment. But we’re keeping all the talent informed. They’ve stayed close to it.”
Smith added: “Like Trent said, the strike has just slowed us down a bit on this last draft, but I think everybody is very excited. Everyone sort of knows the framework of the story and is very excited to, hopefully, get our shooting draft in order very soon.”
Given how both Brolin and Del Toro have ostensibly been kept in the loop about how the next movie is developing, their participation wasn’t exactly surprising. The return of Emily Blunt as FBI Agent Kate Macer, on the other hand, is what’s soundly earned our interest.
Charting Kate’s growth in the years since the traumatic events of Sicario would certainly be narratively interesting — mirroring Alejandro’s progression from losing his faith in the justice system to becoming another wolf “in the land of wolves.” Not just a government stooge kicking doors in a Sisyphean effort to stop the cartels. But who knows?
When asked about the reason why the Oppenheimer star wasn’t brought back for Sicario: Day of the Soldado, director Stefano Sollima provided the following (flimsy) answer:
“Emily Blunt is an amazing actress, but her role was sort of a moral guidance for the audience. In Soldado, we don’t have that. This is closer to my vision of storytelling. I prefer not to have a moral guidance for the audience.”
Depending on whether Taylor Sheridan, Christopher McQuarrie, and whoever’s tapped to direct the third movie are happy to pursue Miguel’s dark apprenticeship, we can also expect Elijah Rodriguez.
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When is the Sicario 3 release date?
As you can imagine, there’s zero word on the Sicario 3 release date. Keep an eye out here for any changes.
Is there a Sicario 3 trailer?
At this stage, there definitely isn’t a Sicario 3 trailer, either.
