Denzel Washington is one of our greatest actors, but even he’s not immune to franchises. In between dramas like Fences and Roman J. Israel, Esq. he made not one but two hyper-violent Equalizer movies, where he played a mild-mannered mercenary who liked to use hardware equipment on baddies. It’s not clear if there will be an Equalizer 3, but we may be getting a lot more Equalizer anyway: Deadline reports that a TV version starring no less than Queen Latifah has been given a pilot order.
If all things work out, the Queen Latifah Equalizer will reboot not only the movies but the show on which it’s based. Running over four seasons between 1985 and 1989, the original show starred The Wicker Man’s Edward Woodward former government agent with a shady past who lent out his services to people in some kind of lurid trouble, free of charge. Fun fact: His titular nickname was given to him by a character played by Jerry Stiller.
Like the original show, this third Equalizer would air on CBS, and it’s not clear how different it would be from either the show or the movies. It will, of course, probably be less violent, though it would be delightful to see Queen Latifah skulking about a Home Depot hurting baddies with nail guns and levels.
(Via Deadline)
