You wouldn’t think it’d be high on the Academy Award-winning thespian’s priority list, but as a man of the people who always gives us what we want, Denzel Washington is reprising his role as retired US Marine and DIA intelligence officer turned vigilante Robert McCall for The Equalizer 3 (which now has an official release date, courtesy of Sony Pictures).
Reuniting with director Antoine Fuqua for the first time since EQ2 back in 2018, this trilogy completer will mark the fifth feature-length collaboration between the duo after Training Day, The Magnificent Seven, and of course, the two previous franchise instalments wherein Washington played Robert McCall.
“They have written the third Equalizer, so I’m scheduled to do that,” Denzel Washington teased months ago while promoting Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, in which he starred opposite Frances McDormand.
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“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?”
Additionally, Denzel Washington has reunited with Dakota Fanning nearly 20 years after they swept audiences away in Tony Scott’s Man On Fire; which would subsequently project the latter into a new level of international stardom. Well… that and Charlotte’s Web.
And granted, EQ3 might not be the follow-up in Pita and John W. Creasy’s story we’d hoped for, but we’ll take it and run.
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Working off a screenplay written by Richard Wenk – who (loosely) adapted the classic 1980s TV series of the same name starring Edward Woodward for the two previous franchise instalments; in addition to having penned Antoine Fuqua’s reboot of The Magnificent Seven – as of this week, production has finally kicked off on location at the Amalfi Coast, Italy.
“In my mind, there’s a European adventure, absolutely,” Antoine Fuqua revealed around the time EQ2 began screening four years ago (via Collider).
“In my mind, that’s what I’d like, to see him in Europe, in the future. God willing.”
While progress is well underway, at this stage, details are still sparse.
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It’s unclear what The Equalizer 3 story will involve aside from Denzel beating the bricks off thugs, mercenaries, and rapey dudebro yuppies alike while protecting/avenging the vulnerable; be they teenage prostitutes like Teri (portrayed by Chloe Grace Moretz), a murdered friend of Robert McCall’s like Susan Plummer (portrayed by Melissa Leo), or whatever character Dakota Fanning is taking on this time around.
Antoine Fuqua has recently completed an Apple TV+ runaway slave film entitled Emancipation alongside Hollywood pariah Will Smith, which is due to hit cinemas on December 2nd, 2022 (see the trailer here). The Equalizer 3 starring Denzel Washington, on the other hand, is currently scheduled for a August 31st, 2023 release date.
Keep an eye out here for further cast member announcements and the trailer.
