Denzel Washington’s Near-Perfect 109-Minute Action Thriller Is a New Netflix Streaming Hit Ahead of Sequel

Ever since Man on Fire burst onto the scene in 2004 and turned Denzel Washington into an action hero, it was only a matter of time before he found his own franchise to sink his teeth into. It finally arrived in September 2014, but was quickly overshadowed by John Wick one month later. However, over time, people have come to appreciate Washington’s turn as a one-man-army, and now, the third entry in the saga is proving that, more than ever, people are ready for a sequel.

Denzel Washington Becomes An Unstoppable Force

Added to Netflix in select international markets on Oct. 1, The Equalizer 3 has quickly risen up the ranks to become a global streaming hit on the platform. For the week of Sept. 28-Oct. 4, Tudum reports that the near-perfect action thriller was viewed by five million people for a total of 9.1 million hours watched. That was enough to snag it fifth place on the Global Top 10 list for the reporting period, which is a tremendous accomplishment for the 2023 hit.

For the uninitiated, The Equalizer franchise stars Washington as Robert McCall, a former Marine and retired DIA/DCS officer. In the first movie, he spends the wee hours of the morning in an all-night diner reading quietly to himself. His peaceful existence is upended when he meets Alina, a teenage sex worker being trafficked by the Russian mafia. When she’s savagely beaten and ends up in the ICU, McCall goes on a violent quest for justice, killing all those who put her in harm’s way.

In The Equalizer 2, things turn personal when McCall’s close friend and former CIA colleague is murdered. Eventually discovering that someone inside the Agency was responsible, he once again extracts furious justice until all those responsible have paid for their sins.

Switching things up, The Equalizer 3 takes McCall to Italy and the small town of Altamonte. Having finally found peace amidst the townsfolk, it isn’t long before everything goes haywire and McCall finds himself battling the local mafia after learning just how much they’ve been exploiting the people he’s come to care about. Using his special set of skills, McCall does what he does best, this time protecting an entire community rather than just a single person. As an added bonus, the film also reunites Washington with his Man of Fire co-star, Dakota Fanning, who’s all grown up and plays CIA agent Emma Collins.

Two More ‘Equalizer’ Sequels Have Been Announced

Grossing a total of $574 million across all three movies, The Equalizer franchise has grown to be one of Washington’s most beloved contributions to the action genre. Of the trio, it’s the third entry that was received best by viewers, as it holds a Certified Fresh rating of 76% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and a Verified Hot audience score of 94%.

As for what comes next? That’s a bit tricky. While The Equalizer 3 was designed to be the final chapter, the response to it was so great that the franchise will continue. We definitely know that more movies are coming eventually, as Washington himself announced in 2024 that he’s agreed to do two more films. While it hasn’t been officially confirmed, director Antoine Fuqua is also expected to return, but as of right now, no release dates or storylines have been given. It’s safe to say that the films are in active development, but there’s been no progress reports on them as of late.

In the meantime, be sure to check out The Equalizer 3 on Netflix if you’re in one of the international markets that have it. For those in the United States, the sequel is currently available to stream on Hulu, Disney+, and HBO Max.

Release Date

August 30, 2023

Runtime

109 minutes