THE EQUALIZER Gets Sequel

Sony has officially announced a sequel to the Denzel Washington thriller “The Equalizer.”

Rumors of an “Equalizer” follow-up began months before the R-rated auctioneer opened in September, but it was the film’s strong box office results and home entertainment sales that ultimately pulled the trigger on the second installment.

Washington is expected to reprise his role as vigilante Robert McCall in “Equalizer 2.” Chloe Moretz and Marton Csokas co-starred in the original.

Based on the 1980s TV series, “The Equalizer” earned over $192 million at the global box office last year. It was co-financed by Village Roadshow and debuted at the Toronto Film Festival.

Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”) directed the first “Equalizer.” It’s unknown whether he’ll return for the sequel. He and Washington are next re-teaming on MGM’s remake of “Magnificent Seven,” which reunites the duo with “Training Day” actor Ethan Hawke.

Source: Variety

Vincent D’Onofrio In Talks For THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN Villain

The Magnificent Seven remake director Antoine Fuqua has largely been hiring either the conflicted heroes or someone who needs their help, with Denzel Washington Ethan Hawke, Chris Pratt and Haley Bennett set for the cast. Now he’s on the trail of the film’s main villain, with Vincent D’Onofrio in talks to co-star.

The movie will once more see a small town – in this case built around a gold mine – threatened by a ruthless baron (D’Onofrio, assuming he takes the role) and his gang of thugs. When they kill several people in their attempt to take the place over, a young widow (Bennett) hires a bounty hunter (Washington) to dispatch the bad guys, supplying him with the necessary funds to hire six gunmen to help him in his mission. Which is where Pratt, Hawke and others come into play. Fuqua is busy rounding up the rest of the cast for the film, aiming to kick off shooting within a month.

John Lee Hancock and True Detective’s Nic Pizzolatto are among those who have contributed to the screenplay, adapted from the classic Seven Samurai, which became the first crack at a Magnificent Seven in 1960. The new version is locking down a 2016 release date, but nothing is in the calendar yet.

The movie hasn’t started filming yet, but Sony has already set their sights on a release date according to ERC Box Office, and the plan is to release it on MLK Jr. weekend, January 13, 2017.

D’Onofrio has been on a run of playing several bad or at least morally complicated guys. He’ll be seen opposite Pratt in Jurassic World (out June 12) and is the Kingpin in Marvel/Netflix’s Daredevil, which hits the streaming service on April 10 in one 13-episode block.

Source: Variety 

DENZEL WASHINGTON: How Racism Is Affecting Denzel Washington’s Career, According To Sony Emails

Denzel Washington is the latest actor to become embroiled in a situation involving the Sony email hacking scandal. However, it should be made clear that the actor doesn’t actually participate in the comments, instead he is simply the topic of them. According to reports, one Sony producer has been revealed saying that that the reason international audiences don’t go and see Denzel Washington’s films is because they are “racist.”

According to The Independent, emails were exchanged between Sony Chairman Michael Lynton, and an unnamed producer just after The Equalizer had been released in September. In an email chain acquired by the British newspaper, the producer declared that The Equalizer’s gross of $191.6 million simply wasn’t enough, and that it had failed to achieve success outside of the United States of America because of the color of Denzel Washington’s skin. He then added that films with an African American Lead don’t generally play well overseas. The producer told the Sony executive that he hoped his comment was not “inappropriate or provocative,” but he was simply looking for a reason why the film hadn’t grossed as much as they’d anticipated.

After making this claim, the producer criticized Sony for not understanding that in order for any movie to truly succeed, it must also appeal to the rest of the world rather than just the inhabitants of the United States. The unknown producer also suggested that casting Denzel Washington in The Equalizer’s was a safe decision, but not necessarily the right one. They said that they believe that Denzel Washington is the best actor of his generation, but the fact that he hasn’t had a bona-fide success in a number of years means that The Equalizer should have cast a different lead actor instead.

The Equalizer wasn’t actually a failure for Sony. In fact, its opening day gross of $12.6 million was the third biggest of Denzel Washington’s career – falling just behind the $15.8 million and $13.6 million that American Gangster and Safe House took in. However, there’s no denying the fact that The Equalizer did fail abroad. It only took in $90.8 million in foreign territories, which falls short of the $100.7 million it amassed in the United States. This is notable since so many other films this year have international box office total s dwarf the numbers put up at home. Transformers: Age Of Extinction, for example, grossed $245 million in the US, but made a staggering $841 million abroad. It makes you wonder what’s going to happen to the The Equalizer sequel that is said to be in development now.

Chris Pratt In Talks For "The Magnificent Seven" Reboot!

Pratt is reportedly in early talks for The Magnificent Seven, Antoine Fuqua‘s remake of the 1960 film. If all works out he’ll join Denzel Washington, who’s been attached since September. More on the possible Chris Pratt Magnificent Seven casting after the jump.

According to Deadline, who got the scoop, talks are still in the early stages. True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto wrote the script for Fuqua’s Magnificent Seven remake, and more recently John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, Snow White and the Huntsman) did a rewrite on it.

The original Magnificent Seven was directed by John Sturges and starred Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen as two of a group of gunslingers hired to protect a beleaguered Mexican village. Before anyone gets all up in arms about MGM re-doing The Magnificent Seven, it’s worth pointing out that the 1960 film was also a remake, of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.

The new Magnificent Seven has been in the works for a few years already, with various A-listers attached at various points. Before Washington signed on, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Costner were all linked to or rumored for the project. However, Washington is the only one set to star at this point.

Should he sign on, Pratt will play a character named Farraday who is not specifically modeled after any character from the 1960 movie. Fuqua’s version will be set right at the end of the Wild West era, shortly after the Civil War. Roger Birnbaum is producing.

Pratt is coming off of a fantastic year. He voiced the lead character in the Warner Bros. hit The Lego Movie, and became Marvel’s newest superhero (as well as a household name) with Guardians of the Galaxy. Next year he’ll star in Jurassic World and the final season of NBC’s Parks and Recreation.

His recent track record has put Pratt in high demand, and Magnificent Seven is one of a few films Pratt is considering at the moment. He’s also attached to lead Universal’s Cowboy Ninja Viking, in which he’ll play an assassin whose multiple personality disorder gives him the attributes of a cowboy, a ninja, and a viking.