After reports suggested that Taylor Sheridan was returning to write the script for Sicario 3, another source came out and said that the Yellowstone creator isn’t actually penning the script for the third Sicario installment.
Sheridan’s Sicario, which translates to “hitman” in Spanish, hit theaters in 2015, and featured a star-studded cast of Josh Brolin, Emily Blunt, and Benicio del Toro, among others. It was a smash hit… but its follow up, Sicario: Day of the Saldado, didn’t fare as well. Many blame that on the cast shifting around a bit, and Emily Blunt not returning.
But at the end of the day, both scripts were written by the one and only Taylor Sheridan. And when rumors started swirling that a third Sicario was on the way, it was assumed that Sheridan would be the one behind it… even with his busy schedule. But Deadline just reported that a different writer will be handling the script for Sicario 3:
“Padraic McKinley is on board to direct. Oscar nominee Steven Knight penned the script. Details surrounding the plot are being kept under wraps… McKinley and Knight are currently working on the script with notes from stars and the plan is to shoot at the top of year.”
Hey… shooting at the top of the year (beginning of 2027) is great news.
It was back in August that actor Josh Brolin first said that Sicario 3 was happening, and even hinted at seeing a script – or at least enough of the story to get on board. There wasn’t any confirmation that Sheridan was the one behind the script until Variety said that the prolific writer and director had penned the story for the third covert task force vs. drug cartel story.
That’s obviously turned out to be false.
Deadline confirmed that Knight (who created Peaky Blinders) will actually be the one working on the script, while getting help from McKinley and the stars of the movie – Blunt, del Toro and Brolin – who are all returning. The first Sicario film was directed by Denis Villeneuve, whom Brolin actually went on to work with in Dune and Dune 2. Villeneuve did not return to direct the Sicario sequel (partially because he’s been busy with the Dune trilogy).
So the good news? Sicario 3 should feel a lot closer to the movie that kicked off the trilogy, just because the stars are all returning (Sicario 2 mainly focused on Benicio’s Alejandro Gillick character). The bad news? Taylor Sheridan isn’t going to be writing the script, so there could be a different vibe to the third film.
In fact, Sheridan was barely mentioned in the update from Deadline, which sadly makes me think that he won’t be involved at all. It makes you wonder how the show could go on without him, considering he’s the one that brought the Sicario world to life, and then continued it with Sicario: Day of the Saldado. But there’s a chance he simply didn’t have the time to tackle the project with everything else he’s working on. It may have been a “he passed on it” situation rather than “they are doing Sicario 3 without him” kind of thing.
Regardless, there will be a lot of pressure to live up to the quality of the first two films. Here’s to hoping Steven Knight crafts a scene as good as this one… he’s got some big shoes to fill:
