Following in the wake of the critical and commercial success of last year's acclaimed drug war thriller "Sicario," talk quickly stirred of a sequel with Benicio del Toro's assassin tipped to be the central character this time out in what sounded more like a spin-off.

Now, speaking with THR, Black Label Media co-founders Molly Smith and twins Thad and Trent Luckinbill say it's a sequel with Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin's characters once again back in the mix. Smith says: "we're in full development with the studio. I just got a draft [of a script from writer Taylor Sheridan], and we're really excited."

Thad adds: "We've circulated it to the reps, and everybody [from the cast of the original is] on board". Then there's Trent who spoke about their excitement over returning to the world that writer Taylor Sheridan and director Denis Villeneuve created:

"Taylor's a really great world-builder. He's got that kind of modern Western voice, which is in vogue right now. And he did it again [with the sequel]. 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. 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."

No word on when the film will go into production.

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate and Black Label Media are getting closer to a production start on Soldado, the second installment of the drug war thriller that began with 2015’s Sicario. I’m told that Stefano Sollima is the frontrunner to direct the second installment and should have the job shortl, with talks expected to wrap up quickly. Denis Villenueve directed the first film. Sollima is the Italian director who has made a number of memorably gritty crime thrillers, but is best known for directing the Italian miniseries Gomorra, and the features Suburra and A.C.A.B. (All Cops Are Bastards). The sequel was scripted by Taylor Sheridan. Black Label Media and Lionsgate are co-financing.

Sequel focuses on Alejandro Gillick, the shadowy Man on Fire-like protagonist played by Benicio Del Toro, and Josh Brolin’s CIA agent Matt Graver, who in the first film established themselves as hellbent on hunting down cartel kingpins, no matter what. The script by Sheridan — who wrote the original — has been very well received. Gone is the principled FBI agent character played by Emily Blunt. The subject matter is very topical, as Gillick and Graver concern themselves with what is being smuggled across the border between Mexico and the U.S. in the tunnels used to move drugs and illegal immigrants. Those tunnels can also be used to bring terrorists into the U.S.

We found out Sicario was getting a sequel before the first film was even in wide release, and at the time it may have seemed like all involved were jumping the gun a little bit. Then we all actually saw Sicario, and we were all felt very fortunate to know that a sequel was on the way. Did we say "jumping the gun"? Ha ha! No, what we meant to say was, "What incredible foresight"!

Anyway. As you know, Soldado - the Sicario sequel directed by Gomarrah's Stefano Sollima and written by Taylor Sheridan, who wrote Denis Villeneuve's original - goes in front of cameras this fall. What you may not have known is that the current plan calls for Sicario to become a trilogy.

In a new interview with The Independent, Sollima says the following:

"It's not a real sequel. It's absolutely a standalone movie - a completely different story with just two of the characters that you met in Sicario.

The idea is to make three anthology movies with some of the core actors and in the same world. The reason that I love [Soldado] is because it's not exactly a sequel; it's something you can catch and enjoy even if you haven't watched the first one."

Well, that approach certainly works with Emily Blunt's departure from the series (Sollima also points out that "the antagonists are now absolutely the main characters", so expect plenty more from Josh Brolin and Benecio Del Toro). Other than that, it sounds like things will mostly be the same...or maybe just a little bigger. Sollima goes on to say:

"I loved Sicario. I feel the movie was quite similar to my approach so, to me, I'm just shooting another movie. Soldado will be much more cinematic than Sicario was; it's got an incredible amount of huge action sequences in there. It will be a different journey in the same world. Even the theme is different - it's not drug dealing, it's more on immigration."

I'm fine with all of this. Sicario is one of the best movies in recent memory, and I feel like there's plenty more unsettling material to be explored within the world it established (speaking of which, Sollima says the Soldado script is "super gritty and disturbing").