Denzel Washington has acted in film for over 40 years, and in that time he’s only reprised the same character more than once. The Malcolm X actor starred as Robert McCall in 2014’s The Equalizer and returned to the role in the sequel released four years later. It’s been years since we heard an update about the possibility of The Equalizer 3 happening, but now Washington has revealed that he’s preparing to work on the threequel.
Having recently starred in The Tragedy of Macbeth and directed Michael B. Jordan in A Journal for Jordan, Denzel Washington is getting ready to tackle The Equalizer 3, which could end up being his next movie. Here’s what Washington told Collider about what his professional plans are for 2022:
They have written the third Equalizer, so I’m scheduled to do that. So I gotta get in shape and start beating people up again. I get to beat people up again. The tragedy of Macbeth and then going and beating some people up. Can’t get any better, right?
That’s already welcome news for people who’ve been waiting to learn if The Equalizer 3 will actually happen, but it gets even better. Collider’s sources say that Antoine Fuqua, who directed the first two Equalizer movies, is in talks to direct the third installment, and there aren’t expected to be “any hold-ups.” Assuming Fuqua does work out a deal, The Equalizer 3 will be his follow-up to last year’s The Guilty, which starred Jake Gyllenhaal.
Loosely based on the TV series on the same-named TV series that ran from 1985 to 1989, The Equalizer introduced audiences to Denzel Washington’s version of Robert McCall, a former U.S. Marine and DIA intelligence officer who left that world behind. However, upon meeting a teenage prostate named Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz) who’s being abused, Robert jumps back into action to protect her, which leads to him having to face down the Russian mafia. In The Equalizer 2, despite having moved to a new city and trying to settle back into a quiet life, Robert put his lethal skills back to use to exact revenge when one of his friends (Melissa Leo) is murdered.
Both Equalizer movies were met with mixed critical reception, and box office-wise, the first entry walked away with 192.3 million worldwide and the sequel came in a little lower with a $190.4 million global haul. In August 2018, shortly after The Equalizer 2 came out, Antoine Fuqua said that he’d “love for” The Equalizer 3 to happen, and expressed interest in it taking place “internationally.” But since then there hadn’t been news on its development in the following years, it looked like the franchise would be kept afloat solely with the standalone CBS series starring Queen Latifah. Thanks to Denzel Washington, now fans of the Equalizer film series can take comfort knowing his Robert McCall will be back.
Once more concrete details on The Equalizer 3 come in, we’ll pass them along. If you’re interested about what cinematic offerings are lined up for the near future, read through our 2022 release schedule.
