By Antonio Martin Guirado

Los Angeles, Sep 26 (EFE).– Benicio Del Toro is again riding the crest of the Hollywood wave thanks to his memorable performance in “Sicario,” a film about the war on drugs that places him squarely in the race for an Oscar and for which a sequel is already in the works, though the film itself has had only a limited premiere in the United States.

The film, which had a box office last week of $400,000 in six movie theaters around the country – an average take of $66,881 each, this year’s highest – expands to 65 theaters this weekend and will have a much wider debut starting Oct. 2.

Following such satisfying results, Lionsgate studios announced that it is developing the next film focused on the mysterious character played by Del Toro, a man who, moved by a thirst for revenge and with methods anything but orthodox, accompanies an intelligence team to the U.S.-Mexican border to help fight the drug cartels.

“The studio didn’t tell me, I had no idea,” the Puerto Rican actor told EFE in an interview.

“They didn’t tell me about the sequel and I thought it was just gossip. I think it’s odd because the movie hasn’t screened all over the United States yet. I’m surprised. But if there’s a chance to work again, you know how it is with us actors: we’ve got to work,” the winner of an Oscar for the 2000 film “Traffic” said.

“Knowing that I’m going to work again is good because an actor lives from one day to the next,” he said.

Del Toro, who is scheduled for the upcoming shoot of “Star Wars: Episode VIII,” has appeared in almost 40 movies throughout his career, but at age 48 keeps his professionalism and dedication intact when it comes to portraying each of his characters.

“I’ve never made a film for money. I go, I say my lines and I leave. No. I always go to a shoot with expectations of outdoing myself. But you never know,” he said. “You’re only as good as the movie.”

“Sicario,” directed by Denis Villeneuve, is all about the work of police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Special Forces in the fight against Mexican drug cartels, in a complex plot that asks through the actions of its leading characters whether the end justifies the means.

“Many Americans,” he said, “have lost their lives fighting this war, as have many Mexicans.”

The film recalls that the problem exists not only in Mexico but up and down the entire continent,” Del Toro said.

Emily Blunt and Josh Brolin play the other leading roles in this drama that begins with the discovery of 42 mutilated corpses inside a house in Arizona that belongs to one of the powerful Mexican drug cartels. EFE