Denzel Washington to do twice as much equalizing, as The Equalizer gets a Sequelizer

Antoine Fuqua’s update of ‘80s television thriller The Equalizer doesn’t come out until September, but Sony Pictures is already so excited about its prospects that it’s started work on a sequel, hiring Expendables 2 screenwriter Richard Wenk (who also wrote the first Equalizer for Fuqua). In the first film, Denzel Washington takes over the role played by Edward Woodward, as a former spy who tries to atone for his past by helping people. You know, dogsitting, shoveling the neighbors’ walk, that sort of thing. Or, in this instance, protecting teenage prostitute Chloë Grace Moretz from the Russian mob.

Neither Washington or Fuqua are on board yet for The Sequelizer, and Washington has yet to star in a sequel in his long career. But the two worked well together on Training Day, and it’s safe to assume that if the first one is a hit, Sony will persuade the duo to come back. Based on early screenings, in which The Equalizer has outperformed every R-rated film in the studio’s history, Sony has reason to be confident. And after the original movie spent so much time in development, the studio doesn’t want to waste any time getting a follow-up into theaters.