Shortly after Taylor Sheridan’s and Denis Villeneuve’sSicariowas trending on Netflix, the sequel,Sicario: Day of the Soldado, was also added to the streaming service.Sicarioand its sequel,Day of the Soldado, take a gritty and brutal look at the ever-violent situation on the border between Mexico and the United States. Propelled by Villeneuve’s directing, Sheridan’s writing, and top-notch performances from the likes of Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro,Sicarioquickly became a hit with fans and critics alike. Now,Sicario: Day of the Soldadois experiencing a new burst of popularity seven years after its release.
Denis Villeneuve and Taylor Sheridan collaborated for the first and only time on 2015’sSicario. Both of them have moved on to even more success - Villeneuve received near-universal praise forDune: Part Two, while Sheridan has found massive popularity throughYellowstoneand its spinoff shows. Such a pairing of writer and director created a great action thriller, but their partnership didn’t last for the sequel. Sheridan returned to writeSicario: Day of the Soldadoin 2018, while Villeneuve madeBlade Runner: 2049. However, Sheridan was more than capable of turningDay of the Soldadointo one of thebest movies on Netflix right now.
Sicario: Day Of The Soldado Is Now Streaming On Netflix
Netflix Now Has Both Of Taylor Sheridan’s Sicario Movies
Netflix added the 2018 sequelSicario: Day of the Soldadoto its catalog on April 1, and the Taylor Sheridan-written movie quickly rocketed onto its top 10 movies list.As of April 2,Sicario: Day of the Soldadois the third most popular movie on Netflix. While Denis Villeneuve didn’t return to direct the sequel,Day of the Soldadowas penned by Sheridan, and it has a lot of similarities to the originalSicario. Both Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro reprised their roles as Graver and Alejandro, respectively, andDay of the Soldadofollows another military operation on the US/Mexico border.
2015’s Sicario Was Trending On Netflix In March 2025
Sicario Joined Netflix’s Top 10 A Decade After Its Initial Release
Sicario: Day of the Soldado’s success on Netflix isn’t unprecedented, and it isn’t even a very new development. In early March 2025, the originalSicariojoined Netflix’s top 10as well, a full decade after it was in theaters.WithDay of the Soldado’s recent success, it seems like theSicariofranchise still has legs after several years. Whether that translates to thelong-awaitedSicario 3ever coming out of development limbo remains to be seen. Nonetheless,Day of the Soldado’s success is proof that Taylor Sheridan’s writing remains as popular as ever, even after seven years.
Taylor Sheridan Needs To Team Up With This Acclaimed Director Again To Complete Their $160 Million Action Crime Saga
After the success of the first movie, it would be very exciting if Taylor Sheridan and Denis Villeneuve teamed up again to make Sicario 3.
Day of the Soldado’s debut on Netflix also lets any of the numerous viewers who enjoyed the originalSicarioa chance to continue Taylor Sheridan’s story. Often, in the era of streaming, multiple subscriptions are required to watch a single franchise, particularly when each sequel is produced by a different company, as it was forSicario. However,Netflix is currently the only streaming service with bothSicariofilms, and fans can see both with a single subscription.
How Sicario 2’s Box Office & Reviews Compare To Taylor Sheridan’s Original Movie
The Original Sicario Outperforms The Sequel In Every Category, But Day Of The Soldado Is Still Respectable
ThoughSicario: Day of the Soldadohas found renewed popularity on Netflix, it was actually something of a disappointment in comparison to the original when it was first released.Day of the Soldadounderperformed in almost every category - from review scores to box office earnings - in relation toSicario. For example,Sicariomade almost $85 million worldwide on a $30 million budget, whileSicariomade just $10 million less with $5 million more to spend (viaBox Office Mojo).Sicarioalso earned very high scores onRotten Tomatoes- 92% with critics and 85% with audiences - whileDay of the Soldado’s scores were in the mid-60s.
$30 million
$84.8 million
92%
85%
$35 million
$75.8 million
62%
66%
A prevailing sentiment in reviews forSicario: Day of the Soldadofocused on a few things. Many critics thought that director Stefano Sollima couldn’t compare to Denis Villenueve, though he still held his own.Cameron Frewnoted thatDay of the Soldadowas “An often shocking, uncompromising and thrilling sequel that does well to build upon its predecessor’s foundations. It’s no Villeneuve, but it’s damn good.” Other critics noted that the sequel didn’t have as much narrative punch as the original.Screen Rant’s reviewnoted “Day of the Soldado is a middle of the road offering that never really justifies turning Sicario into a franchise, from a storytelling perspective.”
