Denzel Washington Makes Box Office History With Equalizer 3
It’s not uncommon for trilogies to lose steam by the time we get to the third installment, but the Denzel Washington starring Equalizer 3 is not one of those films. Deadline reports that The Equalizer 3 marks the second-best Labor Day opening weekend of all time (second only to 2021’s Shang-Chi), having raked in $42 million over four days at the domestic box office.
As of this writing, the worldwide box office numbers boast a whopping $68 million, meaning that The Equalizer 3 will at the very least earn back its production budget of $70 million after all is said and done.
With actors currently unable to promote their films, we can only wonder how much more successful this final threequel installment would have been if a proper promotional machine was in place.
Though it’s no mystery that the past success of the first two Equalizer films, as well as Denzel Washington’s star power were instrumental in pulling in such impressive box office numbers, what’s more impressive is that The Equalizer 3 performed so well despite the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
With actors currently unable to promote their films, we can only wonder how much more successful this final threequel installment would have been if a proper promotional machine was in place. In an ideal world, Equalizer 3 could have pulled in so much more revenue, but despite this obvious disadvantage, its earnings are in the same wheelhouse as the Equalizer films that preceded it.
Considering that The Equalizer and The Equalizer 2 both respectively pulled in $34.1 and $35.8 domestically on their opening weekends, it’s safe to say that The Equalizer 3 is on pace to trounce both films with its overall worldwide box office numbers as its run in theaters concludes.
The Equalizer 3 just had the second-best Labor Day weekend at the box office in movie history, racking in more than $42 million.
Though it may be too soon to tell, it certainly seems that Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua hit it out of the park by piggybacking off of what made the first two films commercially successful, and gave viewers exactly what they wanted with this third and final installment of the Equalizer trilogy.
Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer 3 didn’t just beat box office records, however, as it’s faring quite well on the critical front compared to the first two installments. As of now, reviews are overwhelmingly positive, and the film has garnered a 75 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
This marks a significant improvement over the first two films; 2014’s The Equalizer currently boasts a 61 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, with 2018’s The Equalizer 2 being the weakest installment with a 52 percent critical score.
Overall, the summer box office has earned over $4 billion thanks to the resounding success of films like Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Thanks to the strong performance of Denzel Washington’s The Equalizer 3, we’re seeing a return to form for summer blockbuster numbers that haven’t been reached since before the pandemic delivered a devastating blow to the movie theater industry.
Considering that The Equalizer and The Equalizer 2 both respectively pulled in $34.1 and $35.8 domestically on their opening weekends, it’s safe to say that The Equalizer 3 is on pace to trounce both films with its overall worldwide box office numbers as its run in theaters concludes.
Given the current success of The Equalizer 3, fans can’t help but wonder if Denzel Washington will be willing to reprise his role as Robert McCall for a fourth installment. But when we consider the fact that Washington has historically not performed in any sequels outside of the Equalizer films, we could reasonably assume that this will be last Equalizer film starring Denzel Washington.
In fact, the Training Day star recently told ET that “this is the end for me” during an appearance at CinemaCon prior to the movie’s release.
Running under the assumption that The Equalizer 3 will mark Denzel Washington’s exit from the franchise, now is as good a time as ever to make a day out of watching all three films back-to-back.
