More than seven years since the last film, calls for a Sicario 3 have only grown online.
The drug-trafficking series of thrillers had humble beginnings, being released as a single film written by Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan and Dune director Denis Villeneuve.
It, however, has become something of an action franchise in the time since, with a sequel being released in 2018, telling yet another gripping crime story set at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Everything We Know About Sicario 3
Sicario 3 Was Announced Back in 2018
A third Sicario film has been announced, dating all the way back to 2018.
Sicario 3 has been in the conversation for more than seven years, with franchise writer Taylor Sheridan (who fans may know from Paramount+'s Landman series) seemingly having plans for a Sicario trilogy.
Sicario 2 (aka Sicario: Day of the Soldado) director Sollima told Screen Rant as such during a junket appearance for the 2018 sequel, confirming a Sicario 3 was in the works.
Franchise producer Trent Luckinbill echoed this, saying fans can "absolutely" expect a third movie in the series and that they feel the same way coming out of the second movie that they did the first:
"We were so thrilled that people responded to the first one, and we felt justified in making a second because we loved it. (Laughs) We probably are the biggest fans of the movie. And we feel that way again. Obviously, even more than the first one, we kind of leave off a little teaser at the end. Yeah. And we would love to kind of see, you know, this was always in the back of Taylor's mind, and we loved it, and we thought, God, it would be great if we could get there. I think we'd like to do that now. I certainly feel like the second one lived up to the expectations."
Mission: Impossible's Christopher McQuarrie is No Longer Involved
It was previously reported that Mission: Impossible filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie jumped on the Sicario 3 bandwagon as a producing partner, but that is no longer the case.
Producer Molly Smith confirmed McQuarrie was involved in the project in October 2023 (via Collider), including his name in a list of creatives who have joined the title:
"But we don't know who's going to direct yet. It’s all gonna be about timing. We've got obviously a wealth of great partners on it, everybody from Taylor Sheridan to Chris McQuarrie as a partner on it, but it'll all be about the timing and what aligns with everyone's schedule."
Star Josh Brolin followed this up in April 2024, telling The Playlist, "Chris [McQuarrie] was involved for a while, but he’s not now:"
"Chris [McQuarrie] was involved for a while, but he’s not now. And I don’t know about [Taylor] Sheridan. I know him really well, but I don’t know if he’s onboard or not."
Despite having departed Sicario 3, McQuarrie remains busy in Hollywood with his latest directorial effort, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (which is expected to be one of the biggest box office earners of the year), set for release on May 23.
Denis Villeneuve Is Not Directing Either
The first Sicario movie has been heralded as one of renowned filmmaker Denis Villeneuve's best movies to date; however, it seems as though he has no plans of returning to the franchise.
Despite the first movie being such a resounding success critically, Villeneuve did not return for Sicario 2 and will do the same for Sicario 3.
In a conversation with The Playlist, the Dune director addressed the idea of coming back for the third Sicario film, saying, "Nobody has talked to me about that:"
"Listen, Taylor Sheridan is one of my favorite screenwriters. If Taylor is writing a screenplay, I would be absolutely excited to see that on screen, [but] I have not heard about [a new script or project]. Nobody has talked to me about that. I’m just hearing about it now. I don’t know if thing this will happen, but if Taylor Sheridan is writing it, it’s going to be fantastic."
Benicio Del Toro & Josh Brolin Will Return 'In a Perfect World'
There have been very few constants in the Sicario franchise so far, but among them have been stars Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin.
The pair of Hollywood A-listers have played U.S. government agents working the America-Mexico border since the first film and will seemingly do so again in Sicario 3.
Del Toro's involvement in the project dates back as far as 2021. Series producer Molly Smith told Deadline that the plan (at the time) was to work again with the Sicario star on a third film, with filming hopefully happening shortly after his work on the 2021 thriller, Reptile:
"Then, hopefully shortly after that we’ll roll right into Sicario 3 also with Benicio."
Brolin himself has said he would love to return to the franchise as well, pointing out that he wants the movie to happen but is only going to do it if "there’s a story interesting enough to want to spend that kind of money on it" (via The Playlist):
"We are—we’re closer. Yes. Molly Smith, who is a really good friend, who is one of the producers of that on Black Label—I said something. I said, 'It’s never gonna happen!' and it kind of went everywhere. And she was very reactive, which I appreciated. I appreciate reaction. They’re very much focused on wanting it to happen, but we won’t let it happen until there’s a story interesting enough to want to spend that kind of money on it."
Most recently, lead partners of Thunder Road Films, founder Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee, updated fans on the third movie and its stars, saying, "in a perfect world," Brolin and Del Toro will come back (via Movie Web):
"We're talking about it a lot, thinking about it and discussing it. I love those movies. Those are so close to my heart. And I think it's an amazing franchise. You know, Denis [Villeneuve] set the bar really high, and they and all of our actors have gone on to do such amazing things and stuff, and Taylor [Sheridan] has, like, the Taylor-verse, so I think we have to figure out what makes sense to get that band back together. I think the hope is to get all three actors back, in a perfect world."
Brolin can be seen now in the 2024 comedy Brothers, streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Sicario is now streaming on Netflix.
