Because he doesn’t have enough projects on this plate already….wait, do we have to, really? Okay: the boxing drama “Southpaw“; a Miles Davis biopic; heist flick “Chicagoland“; “Steel Town” for Legendary; a Suge Knight documentary for Showtime (recently wrapped); the thriller “Storming Las Vegas“; a Chinese language historical epic and possibly the “24” movie. Like we said, dude is not without options, but none of those above would have him re-teaming with his “Training Day” star Denzel Washington.
Indeed, Fuqua is in early talks to direct “The Equalizer,” Sony‘s long-suffering franchise they’ve been looking to start, which has already endured the loss of both Nicolas Winding Refn and Rupert Wyatt from the director’s chair. The movie, which will only be loosely based on the TV series, will find Washington playing “a solitary, monastic figure who hates injustice and devotes himself to helping people who are being victimized.” So…Jack Reacher, then? Frankly, this kinda watered-down concept sounds like any number of Liam Neeson movies in development, but maybe that’s the point. Those things make money.
Should Fuqua sign, the $50 million movie will shoot this spring in Boston, but the urgency to meet an arbitrary production date makes us wonder just how generic this will be. If just any Paycheck Johnny can come in at the 11th hour and do this, we’re not sure we see the appeal, but whatever, right? Anyway, Fuqua knows how to crank ’em out, as evidenced by this weekend’s “Olympus Has Fallen.” [Deadline]