The Equalizer is an American spy thriller franchise initially co-created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim, and originating with a CBS television series from 1985 to 1989, starring Edward Woodward. The Equalizer scored 60% on Rotten Tomatoes\ with the sequel hitting 52%.Actors who have starred in The Equalizer media: Edward Woodward in the 1985 TV series, Denzel Washington in the 2010s films, and Queen Latifah in the 2021 series From a studio perspective that’s an acceptable return on the budgetary side.Īnd on the critical front, the first two flicks finished right around where you would expect considering the plot mechanics and genre. And The Equalizer 2 was nearly identical in 2018 when it took in $190 million on about a $72 million budget.
The Equalizer earned $192 million on its roughly $70 million budget when it came out in 2014. How Have The Other Denzel Washinton The Equalizer Movies Performed?įrom a box office perspective, the first two movies in the Denzel Washington franchise have been solid in returning a profit. It hasn’t been confirmed whether he’s in line for The Equalizer 3 though it would make a lot of sense considering the consistency they brought with the first two movies. The other throughline for the first two movies was that Richard Wenk had penned this script for each. Fuqua had talked in the past about the possibility of a third installment, saying he was eager to bring another one to the big screen and Sony confirmed that would be the case. He helmed both flicks and is going to be back for The Equalizer 3. One mainstay of The Equalizer franchise through the first two movies, other than Denzel Washington, has been director Antoine Fuqua. In this way, much like the first two movies, we are probably looking at an all-new cast. And it’s hard to imagine Pullman works his way back in here either because of how that second move played out. But Leo’s character died in the second film, setting the stage for that flick’s plot so she won’t be coming back. The only other holdovers in the first two were Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman as Susan and Brian Plummer. The first two movies in the series didn’t have a whole lot of overlap in the cast with really just Denzel Washington returning. Both movies worked for what they set out to do and The Equalizer 3 would likely do the same. He leaves behind a body count that would make his revenge movie brethren proud. Now it’s time to uncover which government ne’er-do-well saw fit to ice an “innocent” agent and McCall gets to work. In this one Denzel Washington as McCall is just minding his business as a Lyft driver in Boston, helping the odd neighbor in need, until his former partner in covert operations is killed. In The Equalizer 2, we got a slightly different scenario with the same, somewhat predictable, results. A time-honored group to fight against in action movies, McCall must work his way through the organization to the top in order to, well, equalize the group for the treatment of Moretz’s character. In the first movie, Denzel Washington helps protect a teenage prostitute (Chloe Moretz) from the Russian mafia. Both were insular stories in that they didn’t overlap each other all that much. With The Equalizer 3 on the way, we know that there have been two movies already in this franchise. What Has Denzel Washington Equalized Already? It’s a fun enough concept for a movie, not dissimilar to other stories we’ve seen in the genre before. The name of the movie is meant to imply what McCall often sets out to do in that he balances the scales for folks who don’t have the means to do it themselves. Presumably, The Equalizer 3 will have Denzel Washington following a similar path as the first two films. That gives him a chance to unleash the bevy of killing skills he’s honed over years in his past life. Sure, he wants to keep things quiet now, taking those kinds of easy retirement jobs that keep you busy (hardware store, Lyft driver) but as it often happens, the dude gets sucked into conspiracy and mayhem without much friction. Though getting up there in age, we learn quickly that McCall is retired after a career spent in the military and government as a special operative. This series is loosely based on the 1980s show of the same name and stars Denzel Washington as Robert McCall.