After years of rumors, Sicario 3 is officially happening. The movie will be done without a script from franchise creator Taylor Sheridan. However, one massive return to the cast makes everything worthwhile.
Black Label Media and Thunder Road are spearheading the third film in the franchise, after 2015’s Sicario and 2018’s Sicario: Day of the Soldado. Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio del Toro will reprise their roles of Kate Macer, Matt Graver, and Alejandro Gillick. Padraic McKinley is attached to direct from a screenplay by Steven Knight.
It’s surprising that Sheridan, who wrote the first two Sicario movies, won’t write the script for the third movie. However, Blunt’s return is an intriguing addition that softens the blow of losing Sheridan.
The return of Emily Blunt can make up for the loss of Taylor Sheridan in Sicario 3
Before Sheridan created the Yellowstone empire at Paramount, he was an actor attempting to transition to screenwriting. His first feature film script was Sicario, the crime thriller about a government task force whose mission is to intensify the Mexican drug war. Sicario’s success led to the sequel, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, which Sheridan also wrote.
While Yellowstone is more of a Western soap opera, Sheridan’s Sicario scripts are gritty, no-nonsense thrillers that tackle morality and the lines between good and evil. They are relentless stories that never let the audience catch their breaths. Sheridan’s lean scripts add to the tension of these pulse-pounding stories. Knight has extremely big shoes to fill by replacing Sheridan.
Sicario 3 had been rumored for a few years, with Brolin and del Toro most likely returning. Blunt’s involvement in the third franchise is a shocker, but it’s an excellent surprise. In a movie where Brolin and del Toro play characters with questionable ethics, Blunt’s character represents the film’s morality.
At the end of the movie, Kate is broken by the illegal activities she witnessed. After Alejandro forces Kate to sign a statement saying the operation was illegal, she points a gun at him as he walks away. However, she cannot pull the trigger. No matter how hard she tries, Kate can’t sink low enough to do more evil.
Kate’s fascinating dilemma makes Sicario 3 much more interesting. Did the events of the first movie make her leave the FBI? Did Kate lean into her brokenness and become a ruthless soldier like Graver and Alejandro?
Sicario 3 might have lost its edge with Sheridan, but it regains its soul with the return of Blunt’s character.
Originally posted on Coming Soon
