Josh Brolin has confirmed he is set to return for a third film in Taylor Sheridan’s blood-drenched Sicario franchise.
Sheridan’s script for the original 2015 film Sicario helped launched his Hollywood career. He went on to be Oscar-nominated for his 2016 follow-up Hell or High Water before creating the hit series Yellowstone which debuted in 2018.
That same year, Sheridan penned sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado which saw Brolin and Benicio del Toro reprise their roles from the first movie.
A third film in the franchise has been rumored for a decade. Back in 2016, Day of the Soldado director Stefano Sollima told The Independent: “The idea is to make three anthology movies with some of the core actors and [set] in the same world.”
Now Brolin has confirmed that the much-delayed film is finally imminent, telling ScreenRant that it “is happening” and that production will begin “soon.”
Brolin stars in the film series as Matt Graver, a CIA agent who leads a ruthless task force charged with combatting Mexican cartels.
No director or cast has yet been announced for the upcoming third installment, and it has not been confirmed whether Sheridan will return to write the script.
The first film was directed by Denis Villeneuve, who went on to direct the Dune series and will helm the next James Bond movie.
Sollima took charge for the second movie, which he told The Independent was “not a real sequel.”
He explained: “It’s absolutely a standalone movie – a completely different story with just two of the characters that you met in Sicario. The reason that I love [Day of the Soldado] is because it’s not exactly a sequel; it’s something you can catch and enjoy even if you haven’t watched the first one.”
In a four-star review, The Independent’s Jacob Stolworthy wrote that Day of the Soldado was a “brutal equal to its predecessor.”
He added that the film ends with a final scene “that’s so shamelessly tacked on it almost dares you to denounce the already-confirmed third Sicario film despite your better efforts.”
The review concluded: “When Soldado works, though, it soars, holding your breath hostage in a way most films yearn to pull off. It’s hard to gauge how appealing Sicario films would be without the allure of del Toro but it’s to his credit alongside the promisingly talented Sollima that they have made something so brutal so watchable.”
