Denis Villeneuve's Sicario never struck us as a movie that would earn a sequel, let alone spawn a possible franchise. And yet, the characters introduced in the drug-trade drama proved so compelling that audiences looked for ways to return to that world, even if it wasn't seen through the eyes of the damaged FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt). That's what happens when you work from a screenplay by the brilliant Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water). Soldado will be the follow up film to Sicario, with Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin returning, and the latter had this to say about how the sequel will differ from the original. Brolin says:
I think it's just more severe, man. All the way around. I think the characters are more severe. I think the movie is more severe. I think it's just much bigger. It's just a bigger scope film. Like I said, when I saw it it was like Sicario felt like a small movie to me, even though it was a very intimate movie. I've always said I don't understand why bigger movies can't be just as intimate, if not more intimate. Why do they have to be less emotional? I think Soldado's a perfect example of that. I think it's extremely emotional. I think it's extremely tense and it deals with similar subject matters.
The new one is MORE severe that a movie that had Benicio del Toro murdering the children and wife of the drug lord who in turn murdered HIS character's family? Sicario was no walk in the park, but given the fact that it's tackling our country's losing war against the border wars and the drug trade, it never was going to be Mary Poppins -- for that, Emily Blunt fans will have to wait for Mary Poppins Returns in 2018.
Beyond the fact that it's somehow going to be more severe, and emotional to boot, Josh Brolin doesn't spill many more details to Collider regarding the movie's plot... though Blunt will not be back, and her role will give way to several new characters. Brolin and Benicio del Toro return, but they will be joined by Catherine Keener, Matthew Modine, Transformers star Isabela Moner, and Jeffrey Donovan.
We remain excited because Taylor Sheridan is returning to write the screenplay for Soldado, though original Sicario director Denis Villeneuve (riding high on the success of Blade Runner 2049) is passing the torch to Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima, who worked on the TV series Gomorrah.
Soldado currently is in post-production, and is aiming to hit a June 28, 2018 release date. That's a BUSY year for Josh Brolin, who also will have Deadpool 2 and Avengers: Infinity War in theaters that summer. Visit our 2018 Movie Release Schedule for a complete rundown of movies opening that year, whether they star Josh Brolin or not.
