With Denis Villeneuve currently in post-production on his upcoming sci-fi film (previously titled Story of Your Life), pre-production on Blade Runner 2, and adding another Jake Gyllenhaal-led feature to his slate, he’s made it abundantly clear he won’t return for a sequel to last year’s crime thriller Sicario. The producers aren’t wasting anytime, however, as they’ve already settled on a director for the follow-up.
According to Deadline, Stefano Sollima (the director and creator behind the Italian miniseries Gomarrah, based on Matteo Garrone‘s break-out feature) is the front-runner to direct the sequel, titled Soldado, which translates to soldier in English. With a script by the original’s writer Taylor Sheridan, it was thought that the main trio of actors would be back, but it looks like Emily Blunt will be sitting out while Benicio Del Toro‘s hitman character Alejandro Gillick takes the focus and Josh Brolin‘s Matt Graver return.
This sequel, from a script which has been “well-received” (as if anything else would be reported), dives deeper into the tunnels of the original film’s third act, in which drugs and illegal immigrants are being smuggled through. With production looking to begin this fall, we can see why it didn’t fit into Blunt’s schedule as she’s doing Mary Poppins Returns. It also didn’t work for Green Room director Jeremy Saulnier, who was being courted to direct, THR reports. With an expected release from Lionsgate in 2017, for more on the original, check out our extensive talk below if you missed it, as well as a trailer for Sollima’s acclaimed TV series.