Netflix’s Answer to Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Sicario’ Officially Makes Streaming History
Developed over time first seen 2 hours ago
Netflix’s *Facing El Chapo*, a Mexican crime thriller about two police officers who stop Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán during a routine traffic check, has become one of the platform’s most-watched non-English films this year. Its sustained popularity matters to the *Sicario* franchise, whose films have found a lasting audience at home despite modest cinema returns, and whose third instalment is due to begin production in 2027.
*Facing El Chapo* has reached 58 million views and spent nine weeks in Netflix’s top 10, adding 1.3 million views in its ninth week. It is the second-biggest Mexican title on the service, behind *Counterstrike*, which has about 69 million views and spent 12 weeks in the top 10. *Sicario* and *Sicario 2* have earned more than $170 million worldwide; the new film will reunite Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin, with Steven Knight writing and Padraic McKinley directing.
- *Facing El Chapo* has amassed 58 million Netflix views this year.
- The film has remained in Netflix’s top 10 for nine weeks.
- *Sicario 3* is expected to start production in 2027.
Full account
The Mexican crime thriller Facing El Chapo has remained in Netflix’s global Top 10 for non-English films for nine weeks. In the week of 12–18 October, it ranked sixth with 1.3 million views, according to [Netflix’s published chart](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/top10/films-non-english). That is a notable run for a film well beyond its opening week. The supplied headline calls it ‘streaming history’, but the figures provided do not establish a record across Netflix or streaming as a whole.
The film follows two police officers whose encounter with Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán becomes the centre of a crime thriller. Collider compares its setting and subject with Sicario, the 2015 film written by Taylor Sheridan. The comparison describes a shared interest in drug trafficking and law enforcement; it does not make Facing El Chapo a sequel, remake or creative successor. Its sustained presence on the chart shows continued viewing, though a weekly ranking alone cannot explain why audiences have stayed with it.
Collider places that performance alongside plans for a third Sicario film. It reports that Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin are expected to return, with Padraic McKinley directing and Steven Knight writing. Sheridan and the directors of the first two films, Denis Villeneuve and Stefano Sollima, are not described as returning in those roles. The report argues that the earlier films’ life in home viewing helps explain the franchise’s continuation, despite neither reaching $100 million worldwide at the box office. That is context for the genre’s appeal, rather than evidence that Facing El Chapo caused the new film to be made.
The second supplied excerpt examines a different Netflix success: East of Eden, a seven-part adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel starring Florence Pugh. It discusses the series through Western drama and the audience for Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone, rather than through Sicario or Mexican crime cinema. Netflix said on 19 October that East of Eden had amassed [19.1 million views across two chart weeks](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/east-of-eden-adaptation-john-steinbeck-novel). Both excerpts therefore concern the reach of genre stories on the service, but they measure different productions in different charts. East of Eden’s figures cannot be used to substantiate the headline’s claim about Facing El Chapo.
Where outlets differ
Source 1 focuses on Facing El Chapo’s nine-week run and uses Sicario as a genre comparison; Source 2 focuses on East of Eden and compares Netflix’s Western programming with the audience for Yellowstone.
The ‘streaming history’ wording is stronger than the evidence supplied: Netflix’s chart confirms nine weeks in its Top 10, but the excerpts do not identify a record that the film broke.