The crime thriller “Sicario” is sounding better and better every day. It’s already being directed by Denis Villeneuve, the filmmaker behind “Prisoners” and “Enemy,” and it stars Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro. If that’s not enough, celebrated director of photography Roger Deakins, who shot “Prisoners” (so underrated), has confirmed he’ll be the DP on this picture as well.
Well, add some more heat to the project with THR and Deadline reporting that Josh Brolin and “The Walking Dead” star Jon Bernthal have joined the cast. Brolin is already a strong leading man who almost took the Batman role that Ben Affleck eventually landed, and Bernthal continues his rise. The actor is certainly fortuitous when it comes to directors, first working with living legend Martin Scorsese in last year’s “Wolf of Wall Street” and now joining Villeneuve’s upcoming project.
Villeneuve is hotly tipped following the one-two knockout of “Enemy” and “Prisoners,” two films that showed off a gifted mood-setter and an actor’s director to boot. “Sicario” is set against the backdrop of the border wars between the cartels in Mexico and the Americans trying to prevent the spillage of violence into their country, with Blunt playing a law enforcement agent on the trail of a drug kingpin. Del Toro aids her as a shadow operative. As for the two additions?
Brolin will play a CIA agent who recruit’s Blunt’s character and all we know about Bernthal is that he’s a character named Ted.
The original logline was about a female cop and two male Delta Force rangers who cross from Tucson to Mexico to catch a drug lord, so Bernthal could easily be one of them. Sound familiar? It has been called “No Country For Men”-esque. Well, in Villeneuve we trust.
Meanwhile, Brolin has another big role coming up. Latino Review reports that the actor will pop up as Thanos in “Guardians Of The Galaxy,” teasing what will apparently be the major villain in “The Avengers 3.” Brolin will be providing the voice only for the CGI character, but it seems Marvel wants the actor to carry the role down the line. Variety confirms the news. ‘Galaxy’ opens on August 1st.
