Emily Blunt's character written out of Sicario 2

The screenwriter behind the hit crime thriller Sicario and its upcoming sequel, Soldado, has revealed that he is writing Emily Blunt’s character out of the followup. Speaking to The Wrap, Taylor Sheridan said: “That was my decision, and at some point I’m going to have to talk to her about it.”

In the 2015 movie, Blunt played an FBI agent who must navigate a complex web of double bluffs to take down a Mexican drug cartel. Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin play her colleague and boss respectively; the first film ends – spoiler alert – with Blunt’s character unable to exact revenge for a series of professional compromises.

Sheridan said: “Her arc was complete … I couldn’t figure out a way to write a character that would do her talent justice. Look what she went through. It was a difficult role. Here I write this lead character and then I use her as a surrogate for the audience.

“I make her completely passive against her own will so the audience feels the same impotence that a lot of law enforcement officers feel. I drag her through hell, and betray her in the end. It was an arduous journey for the character, and for Emily. That character had arc.”

He added: “What do you do next? She moves to some little town and becomes a sheriff and then gets kidnapped and then we have Taken? I had to tell the story that was true to this role, and I didn’t feel like I could create something with that character that would further that world that would do Emily’s character justice. That said, there could be room for [her character] somewhere else down the road.”

Sicario made $85m (£68m) from a production budget of $30m. Following its Cannes premiere, it made many critics’ lists of the best films of 2015. Its director, Denis Villeneuve, followed it with the alien-language-deciphering drama Arrival, and is completing a sequel to Blade Runner, due next year. The Italian film-maker Stefano Sollima will replace him in the director’s chair.