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 (which itself is receiving a follow-up). And five years since its perfunctory sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado (which was helmed by Stefano Sollima). But when will the world finally get to witness Sicario 3 in theatres?
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: 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 instalment. 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?
Jump To:
- Has Sicario 3 been confirmed?
- What could the third Sicario movie be about?
- Do we know the Sicario 3 cast members?
- When is the Sicario 3 release date?
- Is there a Sicario 3 trailer?
Has Sicario 3 been confirmed?
While a studio has yet to officially announce Sicario 3, for all intents and purposes, it has been greenlit. At least according to those currently involved with the film’s production.
It’s been a rollercoaster journey for those waiting on another Sicario movie. 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 right now. Dune Part II wasn’t exactly going to make itself; nor will Dune 3 (Dune: Messiah), his upcoming nuclear war feature, or the Cleopatra remake.
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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:
- When a title was revealed — Sicario: Capos (whether that’s still the title is currently unclear).
- When another producer, Molly Smith, assured us something was definitely on the boilerplate.
- When franchise star Josh Brolin shared a key revelation that sent the internet into a meltdown…
“It’s been written and it’s been rewritten. So it’s out there.”
He added (via The Hollywood Reporter): “It’s very much at the forefront of all of our minds… 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]!”
Most recently, while in conversation with The Playlist, the man behind CIA operative Matt Graver revealed the following:
“We are — we’re closer. Yes. Molly Smith, who is a really good friend, who is one of the producers of that on Black Label — I said something. I said, ‘It’s never gonna happen!’ and it kind of went everywhere. And she was very reactive, which I appreciated. I appreciate reaction. They’re very much focused on wanting it to happen, but we won’t let it happen until there’s a story interesting enough to want to spend that kind of money on it… [Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie] was involved for a while, but he’s not now. And I don’t know about [Taylor] Sheridan. I know him really well, but I don’t know if he’s onboard or not.”
In other words, it looks like Mission: Sicario is dead in the water.
Strike over, all systems are go
During an interview with The Messenger, franchise producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee noted the since-concluded Writers Guild of America strike was the only real obstacle preventing Sicario 3 from being full steam ahead.
“Oh yeah,” Iwanyk replied when prompted about whether the threequel was happening. “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. I mean, I can watch Benicio in anything, but with that character, it doesn’t get old,” he said.
Now all they need is a director to steer this ship.
What could the third Sicario movie be about?
The final scene of Sicario: Day of the Soldado presents a handful of compelling opportunities for the next chapter’s dimensions. 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.
Alternatively, Sicario: Capos could follow Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) attempts to expose Del Toro’s Alejandro and Brolin’s Matt for their underhanded tactics to control the cartels. Although all things considered, this seems far less likely.
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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.”
On the subject of Sollima, the filmmaker behind ZeroZeroZero has already ruled himself out from returning to the director’s chair for this one.
“I’d love to watch another chapter of Sicario, but it should be from a different director who has their own specific style,” he previously told Variety.
“You shouldn’t have more than one film from the same director. Then it would be too much like a real franchise.”
Depending on whether they pursue Miguel’s dark apprenticeship, we can also expect Elijah Rodriguez.
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.
