Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro And Josh Brolin Returning For ‘Sicario 3’ From Black Label And Thunder Road With ‘The Weight’s Padraic McKinley To Direct

EXCLUSIVE: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin look ready to return to the land of the wolves as sources tell Deadline that Black Label Media and Thunder Road are brining back the team for Sicario 3. Padraic McKinley is on board to direct, with Oscar nominee Steven Knight penned the script. Details surrounding the plot are being kept under wraps.

The Sicario franchise was created by Taylor Sheridan. The first film in 2015 as a surprise hit featuring not only strong performances from its three leads, but also launching Denis Villeneuve as a top-tier director. A sequel, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, was greenlit with del Toro and Brolin returning to star and it hit theaters in 2018.

The popularity of the series has only grown over the years and after the three stars read Knight’s most recent draft, all were on board to return for the third film. The next step was finding a director; according to sources, the search was thorough with not only Black Label and Thunder Road producers meeting potential candidates but the lead cast having their own meetings as well. In the end, McKinley came away as the most impressive candidate, winning the job.

McKinley and Knight are currently working on the script with notes from stars and the plan is to shoot at the top of year. Lionsgate released the first two films, but according to sources the plan is to take the project to market with several studios already showing interest in the package.

Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill will be producing from Black Label Media. Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee will be producing from Thunder Road. Ed McDonnell returns as a producer.

Blunt was most recently seen in the hit summer sequel The Devil Wears Prada 2 and recently wrapped production on A Quiet Place Part 3. Brolin can be seen next in 20th Century’s Whalefall, which also stars Austin Abrams and opens October 16. Del Toro is coming off an Oscar nomination for his role in One Battle After Another.

McKinley is repped by Range, Innovative, and Jackoway Austen. Del Toro is repped by LBI Entertainment, Range and Hansen Jacobson. Brolin is repped by CAA, Narrative and Johnson, Shapiro, Slewett, Kole. Blunt is repped by CAA and David Weber of Sloane Offer Weber & Dern.