Tucson Toughie; Denis Villeneuve Corrals Emily Blunt to Topline “Sicario”

He premiered a pair of films at TIFF this past September, of course his latest film Enemy works in twos, and a rarity in the film news cycle, two lead actresses (Amy Adams with Story Of Your Life) are now attached to his next next two film projects. Variety reports that Emily Blunt (who worked with Quebecois confrère Jean-Marc Vallee on The Young Victoria) is the first person to potentially star in Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario. Production is set to begin this summer.

Gist: Written by Taylor Sheridan, this focuses on the murky legal loophole that allows mercenaries to breach the border of Mexico to corral drug kingpins, as long as they are accompanied by a legitimate law officer. In this case, a female cop from Tucson accompanies two delta force-type rangers across the border to apprehend a drug lord. Once across the border, the cop finds she has stepped into violence and depravity she never imagined.

Worth Nothing: Sheridan first broke into the business as an actor and perhaps picked up a procedural thing or two playing the part of Deputy Chief in television’s Sons of Anarchy.

Do We Care?: A potentially distant thematic cousin to Gerardo Naranjo’s Miss Bala, we’re thinking that this will fall closer to the a more commercial vehicle such as Prisoners. Here’s hoping he surprises us with strong POV and moving camera aesthetics.