We’re coming up on the 20th anniversary of Training Day, the David Ayer-written and Antoine Fuqua-directed movie that saw two LAPD officers, Denzel Washington’s Alonzo Harris and Ethan Hawke’s Jake Hoyt, working with each other for the first time and their new partnership growing increasingly strained. Now word’s come in that a prequel is in development that will pull the curtain back on Harris’ past.
Warner Bros has hired Black list writer Nick Yarborough to write this Training Day prequel, which would take place almost a decade before the events of the original movie. To be specific, in late April of 1992, two days before the Rodney King verdict was delivered, which spawned numerous riots across Los Angeles for nearly a whole week.
Collider also mentioned in its report that the Training Day prequel is “still in the very early stages,” so no director is attached yet. It’s also unclear if Antoine Fuqua, David Ayer or producer Jeffrey Silver would be involved.
As for who would play the younger Alonzo Harris, assuming the character was the same age as Denzel Washington was when Training Day came out, i.e. 46 years old, that would make him approximately 37 years old in this prequel. Washington’s son, BlacKkKlansman’s John David Washington, is currently 35 years old, so perhaps Warner Bros will seek him out, especially since he already has a relationship with the studio by starring in the Christopher Nolan-directed Tenet alongside Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki.
Keep in mind that just because a Training Day prequel is being written doesn’t necessarily mean it will move forward. There are plenty of projects that have been announced over the years that never went past the scripting stage. Still considering how well received Training Day was in 2001, not to mention Hollywood’s love of existing IP, one would imagine those factors will boost the chances of the prequel actually getting made.
Training Day earned a lot of positive reviews and accolades, including Denzel Washington winning the Best Actor Oscar and earning a Golden Globe nomination in the same category, and Ethan Hawke being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Commercially, it made $104.5 million worldwide off a $45 million budget.
This prequel isn’t the first time the Training Day property has been re-explored. It was previously adapted into a TV series that ran from February to May of 2017 and starred Bill Paxton and Justin Cornwell. Paxton died after the fourth episode aired, and while his character wouldn’t have been recast if the show had been picked up for another season, it was cancelled shortly before concluding its 13-episode run.
Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates about the Training Day prequel, but for now, plan your trips to the theater in the near future accordingly with our 2019 release schedule and 2020 release schedule.
