Sony announces an official release date for The Equalizer 3. Loosely based on the 1980s television series of the same name, the vigilante action film The Equalizer premiered back in 2014, starring Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, and Chloë Grace Moretz. Despite mixed critical reviews and controversy surrounding the film's depiction of violence, The Equalizer enjoyed impressive box office success, boasting a worldwide gross of more than $192 million. A sequel followed in 2018, grossing $190.4 million globally.
A press release from Sony, the film's distribution company, reveals that The Equalizer 3 will be released on September 1, 2023. Fans will be able to view the film in premium large format, as well as IMAX. The Equalizer 3 is produced by Columbia Pictures. Plot details are being kept under wraps for now.
The Equalizer follows the story of Robert McCall (Washington), a former U.S. Marine who throws himself into harm's way in order to protect a teenage sex worker named Alina (Moretz) from malicious members of the Russian mafia. The sequel The Equalizer 2 also follows McCall, but Moretz's character does not appear, the film this time chronicalling McCall's quest for revenge after a friend's murder. Shortly after the release of the sequel, Fuqua mentioned his plans to direct another sequel to The Equalizer back in August 2018, also expressing an interest in filming the movie in Europe.
The buzz around the third installment of the franchise began in earnest when Washington revealed during a January 2022 interview for his critically acclaimed performance as the titular role in The Tragedy of Macbeth that the script for The Equalizer 3 was finished. Principal photography for the film is set to begin sometime this year and will be Washington's next film to shoot. The Equalizer 3 will share its predecessors' director, Fuqua, as well as Washington reprising his leading role as McCall, but further details have yet to be confirmed.
Source: Sony