Josh Brolin Reprising Role As Ruthless Government Agent In ‘Sicario 2’

Josh Brolin has confirmed his reprisal of ruthless government official Matt Graver in the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s exhilarating cartel thriller Sicario, According to the film’s producer’s, the follow-up to the 2015 hit is in “full development,” with Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro also “on board” to return.

Written by Taylor Sheridan, the film follows an FBI agent who is enlisted by a government task force to bring down the leader of a powerful and brutal Mexican drug cartel. Sicario was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Distributed by Lionsgate, the film received a nationwide release on October 2, 2015. It earned over $80 million at the box office, against a $30 million budget. The film received three Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Editing.

Villeneuve is attached to helm Story Of Your Life and Blade Runner 2, so it’s unlikely he will return as director for Sicario 2.

Sicario 2 set to reunite Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin: https://t.co/qsatEPZ35S pic.twitter.com/A5PQdPrlaU

— IMDb (@IMDb) April 1, 2016

Black Label Media co-founder Trent Luckinbill enthused about the project in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“You have such a great character with Benicio, who was as dark as he was and still so loved. That character resonates so well with audiences. People want to know what happened to him, so it’s a perfect foray for us to explore. Obviously we would love it if Denis could [direct]. He’s a busy man, but he’s certainly part of the process with us right now.”

According Villeneuve, the movie was conceived at the height of the drug-related violence in Juárez in 2010. Benicio, who plays Matt’s Colombian partner, Alejandro Gillick, was asked to comment on the drug war during a chat with Cleveland.com last year.

“It’s a very complicated issue. I don’t think there is any one answer, and I am not an expert by any means. One thought is legalizing drugs,” he explained. “But we know that all drugs are not the same. So that’s complicated. Ruben Blades, the writer and actor, said that drugs are not only the problem of governments, or only of Mexico or the U.S; drugs are a problem of every Latin American, every American, a problem for the entire world.”

Taylor Sheridan, who penned the first Sicario, is also writing the sequel, and producers Molly Smith and twins Trent and Thad Luckinbill hinted about receiving the first draft and plot to THR.

“It’s a great big world. We can’t reveal the plot, but you’ll see [Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin] all come back.”

2016 is unfolding to be quite a busy year for Brolin. Last month it was announced that Josh and Miles Teller signed on to star in No Exit, a firefighter action movie from director Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy, Oblivion). The film tells the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, “a group of firefighters that faced one of the deadliest wildfires in history in order to save an Arizona town, resulting in the tragic death of 19 crew members.”

Brolin’s latest film, 2015’s Hail, Caesar! – directed by the award-winning Cohen Brothers – received mostly positive reviews and grossed over $59 million. Josh is best known for his work as Llewellyn Moss in No Country for Old Men, young Agent K in Men in Black 3, George W. Bush in W. and Dan White in Milk, for which he received an Academy Award and SAG nominations for Best Supporting Actor. Audiences first met Josh in the 1985 cult classic The Goonies, and he’s been fielding questions about a sequel ever since.

“I just met a writer who’s doing very, very, very well,” Brolin said during a 2015 interview. “And he said he’d written a version of The Goonies 2… and they almost did it, but they weren’t quite able – so it’s always in the air.”

Josh Brolin fans can next see him dazzle the big screen in Avengers: Infinity War, the upcoming two-part superhero film is based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. The actor says taking on the role is the “greatest decision” he ever made (see clip above). The film will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios, with part 1 slated for released on May 4, 2018, and part 2 is scheduled to be released on May 3, 2019.

[Image courtesy Joel Ryan/Invision/AP]