2. The Equalizer
Plot: A retired intelligence officer gets in trouble with the Russian mafia after he decides to help a prostitute.
Based on: The CBS TV show of the same name which ran for four seasons between 1985-1989 and had 88 episodes. Remakes based on TV shows very rarely wind up becoming successful and The Equalizer has had a great number of development issues over the past four years. First Russell Crowe and writer/director Paul Haggis were involved with the project. Then Denzel Washington took Crowe's place with Haggis dropping out soon after. Then director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) signed on and the film was given a release date of April 11, 2014. Could you imagine the pairing of Refn and Washington with the film getting released just four months from now? Well, that didn't happen. Refn dropped out weeks later. The director of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rupert Wyatt, then attached himself to the film. A few weeks later, he drops out of the film too! At a certain point, it seemed like the movie was never going to get made. Thankfully, Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) has since stepped up to helm the film and now The Equalizer will get a September release date. Judging from Nicolas Winding Refn's brief experience with the movie, there seems to be very little reason to get excited about this one. When asked why he pulled out of The Equalizer, he told the
LA Times last May that he would "rather make a good movie that breaks even than a bad movie that makes money." You may think that could be a case of arrogance on the director's part, but with Rupert Wyatt moving on from the project as well, there does seem to be a negative stigma surrounding this one. Perhaps Fuqua and Denzel Washington can right the course?
U.S. Release Date: September 26th