Producer Says 'Soldado' Won't Reference 'Sicario,' Will Be Politically Relevant

Cameras are still rolling on “Soldado,” but the hype and anticipation is certainly high for the movie that will follow Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro as they get up to some seriously bad business, possibly in another country. But many have wondered just how exactly this sequel of sorts will connect to “Sicario,” especially with Emily Blunt‘s character not involved. Well, the answer, according to producer Basil Iwaynk, is that they won’t be linked at all.

“You have no idea if it’s before or after [the events of ‘Sicario’], if it’s five years — you have no clue. There is no reference at all to the first ‘Sicario,’ so you don’t know when it happens… ‘Sicario,’ the world isn’t that specific. It’s just these characters. And frankly we wanted audiences to experience the characters in real-time rather than having an exposition dump saying, ’Meanwhile in Sicario’…” he told Collider.

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But that dedication to providing a visceral cinematic experience won’t come at the expense of saying something about the Trump-era world we’re living in.

“The script was amazing. Truly, I think you could argue that it was better than the first script. It’s a bigger movie; it is just as intense, just as disturbing, just as emotional. You’re going deeper into both Josh Brolin’s character and Benicio’s character, and I think people are going to be shocked by how relevant the movie is in this current environment, with our new president and what’s going on politically in that world,” Iwaynk said.

Again, we like everything we’re hearing but even matching Denis Villeneuve‘s original is going to be tough.

No release date for “Soldado,” but perhaps by the end of the year.