Seven months before the film hits theaters, Sony Pictures and Escape Artists are feeling confident in their Denzel Washington thriller “The Equalizer,” as screenwriter Richard Wenk has closed a deal to write the sequel, TheWrap has learned.

“The Equalizer” has been testing through the roof, prompting Sony to move quickly on a sequel so the project has momentum by the time the first film hits theaters on Sept. 26. A mid-December test screening reportedly earned the highest scores for an R-rated movie in the studio’s history.

Also read: Marton Csokas in Negotiations to Battle Denzel Washington in ‘The Equalizer’

Washington is expected to reprise his role in “Equalizer 2,” though there is no deal in place yet. He may have to renegotiate his contract, as his original deal did not include an option for a sequel despite the fact that Sony has long viewed the property as a potential franchise.

Washington has never starred in a sequel, but “The Equalizer 2” is poised to be his first should Antoine Fuqua’s film prove to be a hit this fall.

“The Equalizer” is based on the 1980s TV show that starred Edward Woodward as the title character. Now it’s Washington playing retired intelligence officer Robert McCall, whose act of kindness toward a young prostitute gets him embroiled with the Russian mob.

celibate wrote:

Seven months before the film hits theaters, Sony Pictures and Escape Artists are feeling confident in their Denzel Washington thriller “The Equalizer,” as screenwriter Richard Wenk has closed a deal to write the sequel, TheWrap has learned.

“The Equalizer” has been testing through the roof, prompting Sony to move quickly on a sequel so the project has momentum by the time the first film hits theaters on Sept. 26. A mid-December test screening reportedly earned the highest scores for an R-rated movie in the studio’s history.

Also read: Marton Csokas in Negotiations to Battle Denzel Washington in ‘The Equalizer’

Washington is expected to reprise his role in “Equalizer 2,” though there is no deal in place yet. He may have to renegotiate his contract, as his original deal did not include an option for a sequel despite the fact that Sony has long viewed the property as a potential franchise.

Washington has never starred in a sequel, but “The Equalizer 2” is poised to be his first should Antoine Fuqua’s film prove to be a hit this fall.

“The Equalizer” is based on the 1980s TV show that starred Edward Woodward as the title character. Now it’s Washington playing retired intelligence officer Robert McCall, whose act of kindness toward a young prostitute gets him embroiled with the Russian mob.

celibate wrote:

Seven months before the film hits theaters, Sony Pictures and Escape Artists are feeling confident in their Denzel Washington thriller “The Equalizer,” as screenwriter Richard Wenk has closed a deal to write the sequel, TheWrap has learned.

“The Equalizer” has been testing through the roof, prompting Sony to move quickly on a sequel so the project has momentum by the time the first film hits theaters on Sept. 26. A mid-December test screening reportedly earned the highest scores for an R-rated movie in the studio’s history.

Also read: Marton Csokas in Negotiations to Battle Denzel Washington in ‘The Equalizer’

Washington is expected to reprise his role in “Equalizer 2,” though there is no deal in place yet. He may have to renegotiate his contract, as his original deal did not include an option for a sequel despite the fact that Sony has long viewed the property as a potential franchise.

Washington has never starred in a sequel, but “The Equalizer 2” is poised to be his first should Antoine Fuqua’s film prove to be a hit this fall.

“The Equalizer” is based on the 1980s TV show that starred Edward Woodward as the title character. Now it’s Washington playing retired intelligence officer Robert McCall, whose act of kindness toward a young prostitute gets him embroiled with the Russian mob.

Cilogy wrote:please call it The Sequalizer

“The Equalizer” wasn’t necessarily a good movie, but at times it had flashes of charm, and even before the film was released, there was talk of a potential followup. And so, if you’ve found yourself thinking lately that you want another “The Equalizer,” possibly one with even more equalizing, well there’s some good news for you today.

Todd Black, who produced “The Equalizer” along with Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington‘s most recent team up “The Magnificent Seven” which opens this weekend, has revealed that next year will see the director and star reuniting to make “The Equalizer 2.”

“The script is done. We start shooting right after Labor Day, maybe right before Labor Day depending on Denzel’s schedule,” he told Collider. “So ‘Equalizer 2’ will start shooting in September of next year, maybe earlier depending on another movie that we’re shooting with Denzel before that. We’re going to do a little bit more work and we’re going to go into casting right after that for his nemesis.”

It’s not clear what that other Washington project is, but the plans for “The Equalizer 2” are to make it bigger — literally. There is early chatter about possibly using the IMAX format for the film.

“We talked a lot about the IMAX format for ‘The Magnificent Seven’. It’s expensive. Antoine wasn’t quite comfortable with that, nor were the studios. We did talk about it a lot,” Black said. “We continue to talk about it for ‘Equalizer 2.’ He has a whole thing that he’s planning on ‘Equalizer 2’ with this new effect that he’s doing, which I can’t talk about, but it’s frickin’ so cool you won’t believe it.”

Guess we’ll have to wait and see what the new effect that Fuqua has up his sleeve turns out to be, but I would presume it will enable even more intense equalizing.