Last year’s surprise hit 21 Jump Street proved that not all 1980s reboots, revamps and remakes have to be terrible, and that was a project that seemingly came together in no time at all. Other shows from the ‘80s are not at all as lucky, such as Richard Lindheim and Michael Sloan’s The Equalizer, which was supposed to turn into a Weinstein Bros. movie back in 2005, and the intervening years have produced more fan frustration than anything else. (Unless Equalizer fans are completely against it, that is.)
Well now that the film has become an Antoine Fuqua/Denzel Washington project, it seems as if the film is well on its way to production, though it has a few more changes to make. Deadline reports Chloe Moretz has been offered The Equalizer’s female lead, skewing the character about a decade younger than the twenty-something the role was originally conceived for. With beyond-her-years roles in upcoming films like Kick-Ass 2and Carrie, it’s no surprise the 16-year-old is commanding such high-profile performances.
Based on a chemistry reading Moretz had with Washington – who also worked well with young Dakota Fanning in 2004’s Man on Fire – both the star and the producers were impressed enough with Moretz to give her a shot. They’ll be retooling the character a bit, but she would be playing a young prostitute, drawing instant comparisons to Jodie Foster’s breakout role in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver.
The Equalizer will follow Washington as Robert McCall, the mysterious retired intelligence officer with a hidden past who generally helps out people in need, but on a large scale. With a projected budget of around $50 million, the film will begin production soon after Richard Wenk’s script reworking. Sony has already set an opening release date of April 11, 2014.
