Roger Deakins Says Producers Wanted ‘Sicario’ to Film in Fort Lauderdale: ‘Has Anyone Read the Script?’

“Sicario” had almost the same location as “Spring Breakers”.

Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 crime drama centered on Mexican drug cartels was almost filmed in Fort Lauderdale, according to cinematographer Roger Deakins. The Oscar winner recalled that the filmmakers had to convince the producers that Mexico City over Juarez was worth shooting in part because of the high cost of insurance.

“We had to get some producers to go to Mexico City because they didn’t want us to go there for insurance,” Deakins said during a panel discussion moderated by Annette Insdorf at the 92nd Street Y.

Deakins’ wife and collaborator James Deakins added, “They wanted Fort Lauderdale.”

Deakins continued, “I was actually in a production meeting and I said, ‘Has anyone read the script?’ Anyway, they let us go to Mexico City for a few days. I have to say the Mexico City cops were amazing. We found some locations the morning before shooting. There’s a scene outside the prison and Denis and I were walking around saying, ‘This prison is great, can we shoot here?’ And it wasn’t until 10am when we actually got the permit and were able to take two shots, so that’s what we got, but it was so worth it.

“Sicario,” written by “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan, stars Emily Blunt as an FBI special agent who teams up with two CIA officers, played by Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, to take down the leader of a sign. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and spurred the sequel “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” directed by Stefano Sollima. A third film, titled ‘Sicario: Capos’, is reportedly in development.

Brolin gave a update on the possible installment of the trilogy in April 2023, saying, “’Sicario 3′, we tried to get it right and make it work, but why didn’t it happen? How long can you wait? A difficult film to make even though the two have made money and people are asking for it all the time.