'Training Day' Director in Early Talks to Reteam With Denzel Washington for Sony's 'Equalizer'

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Antoine Fuqua

Antoine Fuqua may be reteaming with his Training Day star Denzel Washington for Sony’s big-screen take of The Equalizer.

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Fuqua, whose action pic Olympus Has Fallen opens Friday, is in early talks to board Equalizer as director, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

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Setting a director on Equalizer hasn’t been easy for Washington or the studio. The project has flirted with many helmers and as late as last year had Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) set to be the man behind the camera. He split when he didn’t see eye to eye with Washington. In early February, Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) looked as if he was the man for the job, but he too fell off.

A reteaming of the Training Day duo would be auspicious. Equalizer could be as gritty as the 2002 Warner Bros. cop movie. And the pairing led to Washington winning his only Oscar in the best actor category. (He won in the supporting category for 1989’s Glory.)  

In Equalizer, Washington is playing Robert McCall, a retired intelligence officer who helps the powerless. In the movie version, he is living a quiet life while working at a Home Depot when one of his acts of kindness gets him embroiled with the Russian mob.