Although Denzel Washington has starred in many movies with franchise potential, he's only made one sequel, and there's a simple explanation as to why. The two-time Oscar winner has had a prolific career, consistently churning out critically and commercially successful films including Safe House, and Antwone Fisher.
In 2014, Washington starred as former DIA agent turned vigilante Robert "Bob" McCall in The Equalizer 2, the first and only time the actor has made a sequel.
Washington's decision to star in The Equalizer 2 raised the question of why the actor, whose career spans three decades, finally decided to make a sequel. In a 2018 interview with Variety, Washington explained:
"I haven’t been asked. The only time I’ve been asked was for Safe House, but that didn’t make sense because my character had died, so they were talking about a prequel. And I was asked for Inside Man. But this one just made sense.”
Denzel Washington also stated he didn't understand the curiosity about why he had waited so long. “People keep talking about it, but it’s not that big a deal. Is there a curse for doing sequels?” Apparently not for Washington. The Equalizer 2, which was also Fuqua's first sequel, earned $190 million worldwide, coming up just short of the original.
The Equalizer 2 marked Washington and Fuqua's fourth collaboration, and their working relationship has proven time and again to be lucrative for Sony Pictures. Fuqua's 2016 remake of The Magnificent Seven, which also starred Washington, grossed $162 worldwide. In a 2018 interview with THR, Fuqua said he was open to making The Equalizer a trilogy. "I'm looking forward to The Equalizer 3 if that happens. I would love for it to take place internationally. I think Denzel would be a great James Bond-type character." However, in July 2018, Washington told ABC radio, "No. Well, I don't need to. I got Equalizer [already] ."
While Washington has only done one sequel, he's appeared in several remakes. In addition to The Magnificent Seven, he starred in 2009's Scarface remake is moving forward with the Coen brothers writing the screenplay.) Even though Denzel Washington appears to have no plans to appear in The Equalizer 3, fans will get a reboot of The Equalizer TV show starring Queen Latifah, which is set to premiere on Feb. 7 after the Super Bowl.
