Third times the charm with Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua’s Equalizer franchise.
Washington who is currently promoting his latest film, The Tragedy of Macbeth, which will be streamable on Apple TV beginning January 14th, confirmed there is indeed an Equalizer 3 in the works.
Despite it being almost four years since the second installment, Washington told several news outlets he will reprise his role as Robert McCall for the Equalizer 3. Fuqua, who directed the first two installments will return to direct the third one as well.
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He told Collider:
“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?”
Washington also confirmed with BlackfilmandTV production for the Equalizer 3 will start sometime in 2022.
And while plot details on the third film are non-existent when Collider spoke to Fuqua in 2018, he said he’d love to take Robert McCall overseas.
“In my mind, there’s a European adventure, absolutely. In my mind, that’s what I’d like, to see him in Europe, in the future. God willing.”
Loosely based on the 1980s thriller show starring Edward Woodward, The Equalizer premiered in 2014 and saw Washington take on the role of Robert McCall, a former Marine who cuts a violent path through the Russian mafia to protect a teenage prostitute, Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz). A follow-up debuted four years later–the first sequel for both Washington and Fuqua—which sees Washington’s lead character seeking revenge for the murder of a close friend, Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo).
Both installments were released by Sony Pictures and have generated a combined $382M at the box office worldwide.
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This upcoming matchup will be the fifth time Fuqua and Washington worked together. The duo also worked on the remake of The Magnificent Seven in 2016 and Training Day in 2001.
You can currently see Washington in the Shakespeare adaptation The Tragedy of Macbeth. You can also check out Washington’s directed film A Journal For Jordan starring Michael B. Jordan and Chanté Adams.