The 2015 crime dramaSicariowas one of the best films of that year and earned extremely high praise, but it wasn’t exactly a movie that was screaming for a sequel. And yet, writerTaylor Sheridan—who also wroteHell or High Waterand wrote and directed this year’sWind River—penned a script for a sequel calledSoldado, and pretty quicklyJosh BrolinandBenicio Del Toroassembled for the follow-up. DirectorDenis Villeneuvemoved on to directing films likeArrivalandBlade Runner 2049, but in his steadStefano Sollima(Gomorrah) stepped in to direct.
We still don’t know too much aboutSoldado, but when Collider’s own Steve Weintraub recently spoke with Brolin in anticipation of the release ofOnly the Brave, he asked the actor howSoldadoturned out. Brolin was candid about his initial reaction, but he has high praise for the finished product:
“You know what? That movie, honestly, I’ll just tell you really quick, when I first saw it I was like, ‘Okay, it’s a good movie and I think we need to trim some things. We need to do this, and this, and that to it.’ Everybody else had their notes and then when they saw the final cut it’s a really good movie. I’m really excited about it. I was actually surprised at how good it turned out.”
Although Brolin is also quick to point out he initially wasn’t sure howSicariowould turn out either:
“When I saw [Sicario], I said, ‘This is a really fucking good movie.’ When I finished the movie, I thought it was going to be OK. I had seen Denis’s movies. I knew he was a great director, but not everybody’s perfect and not everybody can put a good movie together no matter what their intentions are, but when I sawSicarioI didn’t know what happened. I was like, ‘I know we accomplished a good movie, but why don’t I remember this?’
I kind of felt the same way [withSoldado], and maybe that all stems from Taylor Sheridan’s writing and the fact that you can only fuck up his scripts to a certain extent, but it’s still going to be a good movie because maybe it does all start with the script. When you have an OK script you’re constantly manipulating it to make it sound decent, is one thing. When you have a great script and you’re just trying to do justice to it, maybe that’s something else, and I think that’s what we experienced with him.”
In terms of howSoldadocompares toSicario, Brolin echoedearlier statements by Sheridanthat we’re in for something even more hardened:
“I think it’s just more severe, man. All the way around. I think the characters are more severe. I think the movie is more severe. I think it’s just much bigger. It’s just a bigger scope film. Like I said, when I saw it it was likeSicariofelt like a small movie to me, even though it was a very intimate movie. I’ve always said I don’t understand why bigger movies can’t be just as intimate, if not more intimate. Why do they have to be less emotional? I thinkSoldado’s a perfect example of that. I think it’s extremely emotional. I think it’s extremely tense and it deals with similar subject matters.”
WhileSoldadois in the can, we still have a ways to wait as Sony Pictures has slated the film for release on June 16, 2025. Look for more from Brolin on Collider soon, andclick hereto watch our video interview with the actor.
