The Big Picture
- Sony’s The Equalizer 3 surpasses $100 million at the global box office, showcasing Denzel Washington’s enduring popularity and challenging traditional movie promotion methods.
- Despite ongoing industry strikes preventing Washington from promoting the film, The Equalizer 3 exceeded expectations in its opening weekend, earning $42 million across its four-day debut.
- With a franchise-best lifetime haul expected both domestically and worldwide, The Equalizer 3 has received positive reviews and holds a “fresh” 74% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sony’s The Equalizer 3 passed the $100 million mark at the global box office this weekend, cementing star Denzel Washington’s popularity, but also calling into question traditional methods of movie promotion. The third installment in the successful action franchise was released last week, amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, which meant that Washington wasn’t permitted to promote it. Despite that, it exceeded expectations in its opening weekend and delivered a $42 million haul across its four-day debut.
Globally, the movie made $60 million in its first weekend of release — a new benchmark in the franchise’s nine-year history. With roughly $12 million this weekend, The Equalizer 3 took its running domestic total to $61 million. The film has made another $45 million from 50 overseas territories, for a global cumulative total of $107 million in 10 days of release. The Equalizer 3 is on track to deliver a franchise-best lifetime haul both domestically and worldwide. Top foreign markets for The Equalizer 3 are the U.K. with $5.9 million, followed by France ($4.4 million), Germany ($4.2 million), Australia ($4 million) and Spain ($3.2 million). Key markets still to open are Brazil on October 5, Japan on October 6, and Mexico on October 12.
By comparison, the first Equalizer movie made $101 million stateside and $192 million worldwide in 2014. Released in 2018, The Equalizer 2 grossed roughly identical amounts — $102 million domestically and $191 million worldwide. All three films in the franchise are directed by Antoine Fuqua, who most famously worked with Washington on the 2001 crime drama Training Day, for which the star won an acting Oscar. While he remains best known for his dramatic work, the Equalizer series has reintroduced him as an action hero, much like what the Taken series did for Liam Neeson a decade and a half ago.
Audiences and Critics Were Pleased with the Film
With the fall season now officially underway after a stellar summer dominated by Barbie and Oppenheimer, the month of September will mainly rely on a bunch of sequels, including The Equalizer 3. This week’s The Nun II debuted at the top spot of the domestic box office with $32 million. Next week will see the release of another franchise film, A Haunting in Venice, and audiences will have the fourth installment of the Expendables series to look forward to the week after that. September will end with the release of Saw X.
The Equalizer 3 opened to franchise-best reviews and currently sits at a “fresh” 74% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. By comparison, the first film had a 61% score, while the sequel delivered a 52% approval rating. Notably, The Equalizer 3 reunites Washington with his Man on Fire co-star Dakota Fanning. The movie also stars David Denman, Sonia Ammar, and Remo Girone in supporting roles. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates!
