Sony Sets The Equalizer 3 Release Date With Denzel Washington
Sony Pictures has offered some major updates to its release calendar for the next two years on a quiet Wednesday night, announcing a few movies have been delayed and that some others now officially have release dates. Among those that have planted their flag for the future is The Equalizer 3, the third film in the reboot of the classic TV property starring Denzel Washington. The next film in the series is now scheduled to debut in theaters on September 1, 2023. Should the film hope to arrive on that date it would mean production needs to begin before the end of the year, something that the Academy Award-winning actor previously revealed was happening.
Speaking with Collider in an interview earlier this year Washington confirmed development on the the third Equalizer film, saying: "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?" Screenwriter Richard Wenk previously penned the script for the first two Equalizer movies starring Washington but his involvement in the third movie has not yet been confirmed.
Details about what might happen in the next movie weren't immediately announced by the studio or Washington, but director Antoine Fuqua previously expressed interest in an international adventure. "In my mind, there's a European adventure, absolutely," Fuqua told Collider in 2018. "In my mind, that's what I'd like, to see him in Europe, in the future. God willing."
Washington and Fuqua's first Equalizer movie debuted in 2014 to decent reviews but tremendous box office success with over $190 million in worldwide box office grosses. The success of the first film heralded the sequel, marking Washington's first EVER follow-up which was released in 2019. Despite a tepid critical reaction the film had nearly identical commercial success, making it kind of an anomaly in Hollywood. The upcoming third Equalizer movie will mark the fifth collaboration between Washington and Fuqua. In addition to the other two Equalizer movies they worked together on 2001's Training Day, which nabbed the actor his second Academy Award, and 2016's reboot of The Magnificent Seven.
In the time since Washington last played Robert McCall, the series, based on the 1980s TV show, was rebooted for the small screen with Queen Latifah taking on the title role. It seems unlikely that the movies and shows will have crossover with each other.