The Equalizer (2014)

The Equalizer is a 2014 American vigilante action film directed by Antoine Fuqua, loosely based on the 1980s TV series of the same title. Written by Richard Wenk, it stars Denzel Washington in the lead role, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo. The film focuses on a former U.S. Marine turned DIA intelligence officer who reluctantly returns to action to protect a teenage prostitute from members of the Russian mafia. Principal photography began in June 2013 in Massachusetts. The Equalizer had its world premiere at 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2014, and was released worldwide on September 26, 2014, in conventional and IMAX theaters.

The film received mixed reviews from critics and audience who praised the visual style, direction, acting, soundtrack, and action sequences but criticized its screenplay, depictions of violence and plot. Nonetheless, it became a commercial success with a worldwide gross of over $192 million on a production budget of $55–73 million. A sequel was released on July 20, 2018, with Denzel Washington, Richard Wenk, and Antoine Fuqua returning. A third film is filming, with Washington and Fuqua returning.

Plot.

Robert McCall lives a quiet, routine life in Boston, working at a Home Mart hardware store. He helps his coworker Ralphie train to become a security guard, and often spends late nights reading at a diner where he befriends Alina, a teenage prostitute trafficked by the Russian mafia. When Alina is badly beaten by her pimp, Slavi, Robert visits her in the hospital and questions her friend, Mandy. He goes to Slavi’s restaurant and offers to buy Alina’s freedom, but Slavi refuses, leading Robert to expertly kill him and his men in a matter of seconds. Slavi’s boss, powerful kingpin Vladimir Pushkin, sends his enforcer Teddy Rensen to find and eliminate the culprit.

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Rensen is reluctantly assisted by Frank Masters, a police detective on Pushkin’s payroll, and viciously beats a rival Irish mobster to death as a message from Pushkin. After forcing Mandy to tell him about meeting Robert, Rensen kills her, and finds security footage of Robert entering the restaurant. Meanwhile, Robert continues to take the law into his own hands, intimidating a pair of corrupt cops into returning the money they extorted from Ralphie’s mother and other business owners. After he and his coworker Jenny are robbed at gunpoint, Robert dispenses his own justice to the thief and anonymously returns Jenny’s stolen ring.

Rensen tracks down Robert at his apartment, unsuccessfully posing as a police officer. He later tries to abduct him, but Robert escapes and leaves a fake paper trail for Rensen and Masters, watching on hidden cameras as they search his apartment. Robert’s old friend and DIA colleague Susan Plummer informs him that Slavi’s crew was the East Coast hub of Pushkin’s criminal operations, and “Teddy Rensen” is Nicolai Itchenko, a Spetsnaz-trained former member of the Russian secret police. Robert tortures Masters for information with exhaust from his own car, and forces him to help shut down one of Pushkin’s money-laundering warehouses, leaving him to be arrested with Pushkin’s men and millions in illicit cash.

Production.

In June 2010, it was announced that Russell Crowe was looking to bring The Equalizer to the big screen directed by Paul Haggis, with Crowe attached to play Robert McCall. In December 2011, it was reported that Denzel Washington would star in the title role of the film version, to be financed by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Escape Artists. Director Antoine Fuqua came on board to direct on March 21, 2013, reuniting him with Washington after their successful collaboration on the 2001 Oscar-winning film Training Day. Chloë Grace Moretz was announced as a co-star on May 10, 2013; Anna Kendrick, Kelly Macdonald and Nina Dobrev were also considered. On May 31, 2013, Melissa Leo was cast in the film. Leo previously worked with Washington in the 2012 film Flight, and with Fuqua in Olympus Has Fallen (2013).

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Coincidentally, Leo actually guest starred in a season one episode of the original Equalizer television series titled “The Defector”, in which she portrayed the daughter of a former Soviet agent, who enlists McCall’s help to defect to the United States. Marton Csokas was cast to play the villain on May 17. Filming began in June 2013 with locations in Salisbury, Hamilton, Chelsea, Haverhill, and Boston, Massachusetts. On June 21, 2013, Harry Gregson-Williams was hired to compose the music for the film. Varèse Sarabande released a soundtrack album for The Equalizer on September 23, 2014. The song “Guts Over Fear” by rapper Eminem featuring Sia, with production by Emile Haynie, premiered in trailers for the film. The song also plays over the closing credits.

Promotion and marketing

The first official image from the film was released on December 6, 2013. On August 6, 2012, Sony had originally planned on an April 11, 2014 release date, but on July 5, 2013, the released date pushed back to September 26, 2014. The first official poster for the film was released on April 16, 2014. On April 22, USA Today revealed photos from the film. On May 24, the trailer for the film was released. On June 12, another official trailer for the film was released. On July 16, the IMAX poster for the film was released.

Box office.

The Equalizer grossed $101.5 million in North America and $90.8 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $192.3 million, against a net production budget of $55 million. The film was released on September 26, 2014, in the United States and earned $12.5 million from 3,236 theaters in its first opening night including the $1.45 million it earned from 2,693 screens from Thursday night showings. On the second day the film earned $13.5 million and $8.1 million on the third day. Its opening day is the third biggest for Washington, tailing behind American Gangster ($15.8 million) and Safe House ($13.6 million). On its opening weekend the film earned $34,100,000 ($10,816 per theater) and debuted at number one at the box office. The film broke several records at the box office during its opening weekend

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including the biggest R-rated debut of September, surpassing Jackass Number Two record ($29 million), the biggest IMAX opener of September, the biggest debut weekend gross for Antoine surpassing Olympus Has Fallen ($30 million), the fifth biggest domestic opening for Washington behind the aforementioned American Gangster ($43.6 million), Safe House ($40.2 million), and eventually behind its sequel The Equalizer 2 ($35.8 million) and The Magnificent Seven ($35.7 million). It was also the fourth biggest for a film released in September. It earned $3.3 million from 352 IMAX theaters. Audiences for the debut weekend of the film were 52% male and 48% female, with 65% of ticket buyers over 30 years old.