Actress Dakota Fanning will reunite with her Man on Fire co-star Denzel Washington in the upcoming action sequel The Equalizer 3. As reported by Deadline, Fanning will join Washington in The Equalizer threequel, and while her role in proceedings is currently unknown, the idea of the two actors working together again after all these years is certainly a promising one.

The pair will join forces once again following their team-up in the late, great director Tony Scott’s revenge flick Man of Fire. Released back in 2004, Man on Fire sees Denzel Washington portray John Creasy, a despondent, alcoholic former U.S. Marine and CIA operative turned bodyguard, who embarks on a rampage of revenge after his charge, Dakota Fanning’s Lupita Ramos, is kidnapped by a gang in Mexico City. The relationship between Washington and Fanning is central to Man on Fire, and it could well be that The Equalizer 3 finds them playing a similar focal point in the action sequel.

The Equalizer 3 Will See Denzel Washington Reprise the Role of Robert McCall

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Sony Pictures Releasing

Released in 2014, the first installment in The Equalizer franchise reboots the 1980s TV series of the same name, and follows Academy Award winner and Hollywood legend Denzel Washington as Robert McCall, a man of mysterious origin who believes he has put his violent past behind him and has dedicated himself to a quiet new life.

Of course, a man with such a mysterious origin can never stay quiet forever, and when he meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a teenager in an impossible situation and under the control of vicious Russian mobsters, Robert simply cannot walk away. Using his particular set of formidable skills, McCall comes out of self-imposed retirement and emerges as an avenging angel, ready to take down anyone who brutalizes the helpless.

Despite being met with some mixed reviews, The Equalizer was a commercial success, grossing over $192 million at the box office. Thanks to the audience response to Washington’s righter of wrongs, a sequel, The Equalizer 2, was released in 2018. The plot sees Robert set out on a path of revenge that’s a lot more personal after one of his friends is murdered. Starring Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, and Orson Bean alongside Washington, The Equalizer 2 was once again met with mixed reviews from critics, but proved to be another huge hit with audiences, grossing $190 million worldwide.

Not much is yet known about the direction of The Equalizer 3, but returning director Antoine Fuqua has previously revealed that he would like to take Robert’s set of skills global. "In my mind, there's a European adventure, absolutely," the filmmaker said back in 2018. "In my mind, that's what I'd like, to see him in Europe, in the future. God willing."

Alongside Denzel Washington and Antonie Fuqua, writer Richard Wenk will also return to pen the script for The Equalizer 3. The action threequel is being produced by Escape Artists’ Academy Award nominee Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, and Washington.

The Equalizer 3 is scheduled to be released on September 1, 2023, by Sony Pictures.