10 Alternative Opening Movie Scenes You Never Saw
5. Alejandro's Introduction - Sicario
Denis Villeneuve's masterful action-thriller Sicario begins with a blisteringly intense set-piece where FBI agent protagonist Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) takes part in a raid on a cartel safehouse, leading to the discovery of dozens of corpses hidden within the house's walls, before a bomb kills two of her fellow officers.
But shortly after the film's release, Sicario's editor Joe Walker discussed an original opening scene which was shot but ultimately cut.
The alternate opening would instead introduce us first to assassin Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro), though Walker, Villeneuve, and cinematographer Roger Deakins collectively agreed that the film should instead open on Kate to establish her as its central viewpoint. Walker said:
"We took a lot of measures to get the balance right, even jettisoning an amazing scene which used to open the film. We see Alejandro interrogating a cop by holding his head underwater. But he drowns him. Alejandro administers CPR, brings the cop back to life only to start the interrogation over. It was such a great scene it was tough to drop. But it felt important to anchor the story in Kate's viewpoint right from the outset and to let Kate and the audience discover Alejandro at the same time."
Though it's a shame this scene never surfaced on the film's home video release, it's easy to appreciate the filmmakers' rationale in wanting to keep some critical distance between Alejandro and the audience.