Sicariowas one of the most critically heralded movies of 2015 and helped elevate director Denis Villeneuve to one of the most in-demand directors in Hollywood. It also helped bolster writer Tayler Sheridan’s career, who wrote the recent Best Picture nomineeHell or High Water, as well as the upcomingSicario 2, which is officially titledSoldado. If you thought the first movie was dark, get ready for something really bleak because Sheridan says that the sequel is going to make the original look like a comedy.
The screenwriter recently spoke with Collider in order to promote his latest movieWind River. During the course of the conversation, he was asked about theSicariosequel, which doesn’t yet have a release date. Taylor Sheridan revealed that he wrote the movie the way he wanted to write it and the result is something that is apparently way more dark than the first movie, which is really saying something. Here’s what he had to say about it.
“When I told them I would write it, they asked for the traditional studio call and the outline and all that, and I said, ‘No, no, no, guys. The first one was original. I’m just going to go away and I’m going to come back with it and there you go.’ And they trusted me to do that, and then read it and were like, ‘Ah, shit. We’re in a lot of trouble.’ It makes the first one look like a comedy. Yeah. I’m not the guy to ask to write a sequel.”
Sicariodidn’t at all seem like the kind of movie that was capable ofspawning a franchise, but that is exactly what happened. Even though Denis Villeneuve didn’t return to directSoldado, as he is busy withBlade Runner 2049at the moment, the sequel sees the return ofBenicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Jeffrey Donovan under the direction of Stefano Sollima (Gomorrah). If all goes well,Sicario 2isn’t going to be the end. As Taylor Sheridan tells it, there are more possible corners of this universe to explore in future installments.
“I would like there to be one more to complete that so all of a sudden I don’t know what geometric shape you’d call this that you have a trilogy kicking off from a trilogy, and this one not being thematic, this one being actual, you know, it’s a really unique opportunity tocapitalize on somethingpurely creatively. You know what I mean? It’s a really bizarre thing to franchise, if that’s the right word, which I don’t think it is. You know, Sicario was successful but it was successful because Denis and the producers were, you know, they were very lean. It was very lean filmmaking. And so it didn’t, by comparison to films that look like that, didn’t cost very much money and so likewise with the sequel, that didn’t cost much more which allows us to stay really true as opposed to trying to reach a broader audience, make a richer experience for that audience and hopefully bring in more but that’s not necessarily the goal. The goal is to continue down this story, you know.”
Even withoutEmily Blunt and her character, it sounds likeSoldadocould be a worthy sequel, even if it is going to be a very dark one. The movie has already been filmed and Taylor Sheridan has seen early cuts, which he feels encouraged by. Hopefully, that means Lionsgate will give the movie an official release date soon so we can get an idea of what to really expect from this movie. One thing that can be said definitively is thatSicariois far from a comedy. It’s a very gritty movie.Soldadomust go pretty far to make it look like a comedy by comparison.
