Less than a year after "Sicario" made waves when it was released nationwide following its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, Lionsgate has already green-lighted the movie's sequel. This is despite missing some key pieces including Emily Blunt who played the lead role of Agent Kate Macer and director Denis Villeneuve, who is no longer helming the project.
However, it seems like the follow-up movie titled "Soldado" already has its bases covered. For starters, the absence of Blunt will be written in a way that makes sense to where the narrative will go. Returning screenwriter Taylor Sheridan spilled to The Wrap that it was actually his decision to write the actress off of the sequel.
"Her arc was complete... I couldn't figure out a way to write a character that would do her talent justice," he explained. "I didn't feel like I could create something... that would do Emily's character justice. That said, there could be room for Kate somewhere else down the road."
Meanwhile, according to Jeffrey Donovan, who is set to reprise his role as Steve Forsing, the absence of Blunt will direct "Soldado" to a different path which he says is not quite a direct follow-up to "Sicario."
"It's more of a stand-alone spin-off. It's not a sequel or a prequel. It really is yet another examination told from this male point of view, rather than from a female point of view. It's pretty cool," the actor told Collider in a separate conversation while promoting his latest project, Hulu's "Shut Eye."
"The story picks up with the same male characters that were in Sicario, which was Josh [Brolin] and Benicio [Del Toro]...my character, Forsing, is also brought back. It focuses on these three characters now, going down into Mexico to basically start a war, on purpose, between the rival Mexican cartels. There's a bigger reason for it, but that's the beginning of the movie," he further teased.
As for the director replacing Villeneuve, Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima has already been tapped to work on "Soldado." With a background in working on crime dramas like the ongoing "Gomorrah," the 50-year-old is definitely on familiar grounds. Villeneuve's exit from the project is not rooted from any internal drama; instead, it was just a matter of scheduling that barred him from working on the sequel.
Principal photography for "Soldado" already started earlier this month in New Mexico. However, no official release date has been announced.
