Actor Benicio Del Toro landed himself a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his role in Denis Villeneuve‘s “Sicario” which had a script penned by rising talent Taylor Sheridan (“Yellowstone”) and led to a sequel directed by Stefano Sollima that took a slight dip at the box office earning $75.8 million (Compared the original’s take of $84.8 million). Without spoiling the ending of “Sicario: Day of The Soldado,” Del Toro’s character Alejandro Gillick (An ex-Mexican prosecutor who became a CIA-trained assassin after his family was murdered by the kingpin) survived the brutal events of the film and would be expected to be the protagonist of the third installment. That third film is now officially in the works.

Producers Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee are now confirming development on “Sicaro 3” while speaking with The Messenger, the duo are known for working on the previous two films alongside the successful “John Wick” franchise including the upcoming spinoff “Ballerina” that stars Ana de Armas and Norman Reedus.

“When we can continue writing it. It was pencils down, but the idea is awesome,” Iwanyk said of the status of “Sicario 3.” Adding, “I can’t wait for ‘Sicario 3,’ I could watch Benicio play that guy forever. I mean, I can watch Benicio in anything, but with that character, it doesn’t get old.”

While Sheridan wrote the scripts for the last two installments, it’s unclear if he’ll be returning for “Sicario 3” given his attention has been focused on a growing television empire at Paramount with multiple shows actively shooting and being developed all at the same time. We’ll keep our fingers crossed that producers can convince Sheridan to take a directing role after tackling feature thrillers like “Wind River” and “Those Who Wish Me Dead.” Then again, he’s extremely busy.

Even less clear if we’re ever going to see the return of Emily Blunt’s FBI Agent Kate Macer, who had been the original protagonist and before the sequel switched to the perspective of Del Toro’s Alejandro. The second film seemed to indicate that Alejandro would see his story continued in a future installment.

SOURCE: THE MESSENGER