'Sicario' sequel director says not having Emily Blunt led to a movie with no morals

• "Sicario: Day of the Soldado" director Stefano Sollima said the difference between this movie and the original is this one has no "moral guidance" for the audience.
• The stakes are also higher, which led to some unforgiving scenes, including one of a graphic suicide bombing.
• Sollima said the scene was vital to show that, in this movie, stars Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin are not playing by any rules.
• The director hopes the movie sparks a discussion, especially with the movie coming out in the midst of Trump's zero tolerance policy for anyone crossing the US border illegally.

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Italian director Stefano Sollima's fascination with the underworld has fueled his career.

From a look at how organized crime influenced politics in Rome for 2015's "Suburra," to the TV series version of "Gomorrah" (based on Roberto Saviano's book and Matteo Garrone's feature film), which gave a glimpse inside one of the Italian mafia's most powerful regimes, they are all projects that are gritty portrayals of the clash between law enforcement and criminals.

Now Sollima brings his style to Hollywood with "Sicario: Day of the Soldado" (in theaters Friday), the sequel to Denis Villeneuve's 2015 critically acclaimed "Sicario."

In the first movie, we follow Kate Macer, an idealist FBI agent played by Emily Blunt who is enlisted by a government task force, led by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and flanked by the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), to assist in the escalating drug war on the US/Mexico border.

With its breathtaking cinematography by legendary DP Roger Deakins and powerful script from Taylor Sheridan ("Hell or High Water"), Villeneuve created an instant classic.

So Sollima admits he was confused when he was approached to make a sequel to a movie that felt like such a standalone. However, he became a little more interested when it was explained to him that the plan was to make a movie simply "in the spirit" of the first. And then he was completely sold when he read Sheridan's script. By the time he finished reading it, the "different kind of sequel" pitch was certainly accurate, down to Blunt's Kate Macer character being nowhere to be found.

"Emily Blunt is an amazing actress, but her role was sort of a moral guidance for the audience," Sollima told Business Insider over the phone. "In 'Sodaldo' we don't have that. This is closer to my vision of storytelling. I prefer not to have a moral guidance for the audience."

And that is evident in the first 10 minutes of "Soldado."

In the movie, we are taken deeper into the Mexican drug cartels and the shady politics played by the US government. But to fully have the audience buy into the plot, Sollima believed he first had to show them that this one had even higher stakes than the first "Sicario."

To open the movie, a group of terrorists walk into a big box store on US soil and detonate bombs attached to themselves. The way Sollima has the scene shot, the audience is pulled into the chaos rather than watching it play out from a safe distance. The camera follows the men to the entrance of the store. As they continue to walk in, moments later you see them explode in different areas of the store. The camera then stays on one girl crying by the registers. Her mother then comes into the frame to grab her and, as they turn to leave, they freeze in shock looking at something off camera. The shot pulls back to reveal another suicide bomber in front of them. As the mother pleads to let them go by, the bomber, whispering a prayer, triggers the bomb and the explosion kills them all as the screen goes to black.

It's revealed that the terrorists were trafficked across the border by a Mexican cartel, which leads to Graver and Alejandro getting the call to devise a plan for some payback.

Sollima said Sheridan, who wrote the screenplay for "Soldado," wrote the terrorist bombing scene differently. In the script, the camera is pulled far back to show the suicide bomb attack. But the director said the intimacy of that moment was needed.

"I think it was the best way to get inside the story," he said. "You want the audience to be fully into the plan, 'Let's have revenge.'"

And the shot of the mother and daughter being killed was to show that no one is safe in this movie.

"When you see the kid, you are thinking, 'It's impossible, this is not going to happen,' and when it does happen you realize anything can happen in this movie," Sollima said. "That was really important."

Things only get more intense: the movie features a child kidnapping, drone strikes, and a whole lot of shootouts.

However what Sollima, or anyone involved with the movie, could never have predicted was that the movie would be released at a moment when the topic of borders and immigration are dominating the news cycle and social media.

In the wake of President Trump's controversial zero tolerance policy, the news cycle has been flooded with the aftermath, which includes coverage of thousands of children being separated from their families due to the policy (Trump has since signed an executive order ending family separations). Now "Soldado" is suddenly thrust into the narrative.

As ads for the movie show violent acts on the Mexican border, it's safe to say that Sollima's "no morals" storytelling could turn off some audiences going to the theaters looking for some escapism.

Then there's another possibility: "Soldado" could suddenly be used as a tool for those who agree with the zero tolerance policy.

Is Sollima concerned?

Sollima said he wasn't, but believes it's healthy for a movie to launch a conversation.

"It's what you expect, people are going to discuss it," he said. "You provoke a discussion."

He said that's what's great about making gangster movies: topics can be explored and discussions can be launched.

"You have some code of the genre that you're playing with and this means you are going to tell the dark side of something with a lot of action, but if you're smart enough, through the lens of the genre you can reflect on the reality of the world around you," Sollima said.

Regardless how "Soldado" performs its opening weekend in theaters (it has a 73% Rotten Tomatoes rating with a 97% "want to see" rating), don't expect Sollima to make a part three in the "Sicario" franchise. When asked if he was interested, he made it pretty clear that this was a one-and-done for him.

"It's more interesting to have a saga where you have completely different directors doing each movie," he said. "They will hire another director with their own vision and style."