The Equalizer 2 (sometimes promoted as The Equalizer II or EQ2) is a 2018 American vigilante action film directed by Antoine Fuqua. It is the sequel to the 2014 film The Equalizer, which was based on the TV series of the same name. The film stars Denzel Washington in the lead role, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, and Orson Bean in his final film role. It follows retired U.S. Marine and former DIA officer Robert McCall as he sets out on a path of revenge after one of his friends is murdered. The film is the fourth collaboration between Washington and Fuqua, following Training Day (2001), The Equalizer (2014), and The Magnificent Seven (2016).

Talks of an Equalizer sequel began seven months prior to the release of the first film. The project was officially announced in April 2015. Filming began in September 2017, and took place in Boston as well as other areas around Massachusetts. It also marks the first time Washington has starred in a sequel to one of his films.

The Equalizer 2 was released in the United States on July 20, 2018, by Sony Pictures Releasing. It received mixed reviews, with critics praising Washington s performance and the film s action sequences, but criticizing the pacing and number of subplots. Nevertheless, the film was a commercial success, grossing $190 million worldwide on a production budget of $62 million.

A sequel, titled The Equalizer 3, is scheduled to be released on September 1, 2023, with Washington to reprise his starring role and Fuqua returning to direct.

Plot

Former Marine and DIA operative Robert McCall still lives in Boston. He works as a Lyft driver and assists the less fortunate with the help of his close friend and former DIA colleague, Susan Plummer. McCall travels to Istanbul to retrieve the nine-year-old daughter of a bookstore owner, Grace Braelick, who was kidnapped by her abusive Turkish father. He also helps Sam Rubinstein, an elderly Holocaust survivor looking for a painting of his sister who died in the Nazi death camps. McCall returns home to find that his apartment s courtyard has been vandalized. He accepts an offer from Miles Whittaker, a young resident with an artistic but troubled background, to paint a mural on the walls. Susan and DIA officer Dave York, McCall s former partner, are called to investigate the murder-suicide of an agency affiliate and his wife in Brussels. At their hotel, Susan is accosted in her room and killed, presumably during a robbery.

McCall determines that the expertly delivered fatal stab suggested that she was targeted, and that the murder-suicide was staged. McCall informs York of his findings. During one of his Lyft runs, McCall is attacked by an assassin posing as a passenger. McCall kills the man and retrieves his mobile phone. He discovers that York s number is on the phone s call list and confronts York at his home. York admits that he became a mercenary after feeling used and discarded by the government and confesses that he killed Susan, as she would have figured out that he was behind the Brussels killings. McCall leaves the house where the rest of McCall s former squad and York s current teammates—Kovac, Ari, and Resnik—are waiting. McCall promises to kill the entire team before departing. Resnik and Ari head to Susan s house to kill her husband Brian, but McCall helps him escape. York and Kovac break into McCall s apartment, where Miles is painting the walls. Monitoring the apartment via webcams, McCall directs Miles to a passage concealed behind a bookcase. Miles emerges from hiding, but is captured as he opens the apartment s front door.

York deduces that McCall has gone to his seaside hometown, which has been evacuated as a hurricane approaches. Kovac, Ari, and Resnik begin searching the town in gale-force winds, while York situates himself on the town s watchtower. Kovac enters a tackle shop, where McCall kills him with a harpoon gun. When Ari heads toward the seaside, he is disturbed by pictures of Susan that he sees along the way; McCall butchers him with knives. McCall then enters his late wife s old bakery store to lure in Resnik, who is fatally injured in a flour explosion, set off by Resnik s own stun grenade. York reveals that he has Miles tied up in the trunk of his car and begins shooting at it to lure McCall out. McCall confronts York atop the tower and kills him.

Back in Boston, Susan s information about Sam s painting helps McCall reunite Sam with his long lost sister. Miles finishes painting his mural on the apartment complex s brick wall, returns to school and focuses on his art. Having moved back into his old house, McCall looks out towards the calm sea.

Cast

• Denzel Washington as Robert McCall
• Pedro Pascal as Dave York
• Ashton Sanders as Miles Whittaker
• Orson Bean as Sam Rubinstein
• Bill Pullman as Brian Plummer
• Melissa Leo as Susan Plummer
• Jonathan Scarfe as Resnik
• Sakina Jaffrey as Fatima
• Kazy Tauginas as Ari
• Garrett Golden as Kovac
• Tamara Hickey as Grace Braelick
• Rhys Cote as Grace s daughter
• Adam Karst as Grace s Turkish ex-husband
• Antoine de Lartigue as Mr. Calbert (Belgian Husband)
• Abigail Marlowe as Jana Calbert (Belgian Wife)

Production

On February 24, 2014, seven months before the release of The Equalizer, it was announced that Sony Pictures and Escape Artists were planning a sequel, with Richard Wenk penning the script again. In early October 2014, Antoine Fuqua stated that there would be a sequel to the film only if audiences and Denzel Washington wanted it. He said it was an interesting character, and that the sequel could have more of an international flavor.

On April 22, 2015, Sony officially announced a sequel, with Washington returning to his role as vigilante Robert McCall. Fuqua s returning was not yet confirmed. In September 2016, producer Todd Black revealed that the script of the film was complete, and that Fuqua would return to direct, with shooting set to begin in September 2017.

On August 21, 2017, Pedro Pascal was cast in an unspecified role. Two days later, Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman were confirmed to reprise their roles from the first film, as Susan and Brian Plummer, and it was reported that the film would be produced by Jason Blumenthal, Black, Washington, Steve Tisch, Mace Neufeld, Alex Siskin and Tony Eldridge. On August 24, 2017, Ashton Sanders joined the film to play a character who comes to consider Washington s McCall a father figure. On March 25, 2018, it was revealed that Sakina Jaffrey had also been added to the cast.

Filming

Principal photography on the film began in the South End area of Boston, Massachusetts, on September 14, 2017. Filming also took place on Lynn Shore Drive in Lynn, Massachusetts, the Powder Point Bridge in Duxbury, Massachusetts, as well as in Brant Rock, Massachusetts. The final action scene was filmed here. Interior scenes were filmed in a studio in Randolph, Massachusetts.

While Sony and other publications reported the film was made on a net production budget of $62 million, Deadline Hollywood stated their sources insisted the cost was in the high range after Massachusetts tax credits.

Release

The Equalizer 2 was released on July 20, 2018, by Sony Pictures. Sony had originally scheduled the film for a September 29, 2017, release, but on November 3, 2016, the film got pushed to September 14, 2018, and then on September 28, 2017, the release date brought it forward to August 3, 2018, but then on February 13, 2018, it got settled on its July 20, 2018 release.

Reception

Box office

The Equalizer 2 grossed $102.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $88.3 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $190.4 million, against a production budget of $62 million.

In the United States and Canada, The Equalizer 2 was released alongside 2 other sequels, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and Unfriended: Dark Web, and was projected to gross $27–32 million from 3,388 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $3.1 million from Thursday night previews, double the $1.45 million earned by the original film in 2014, and $13.5 million on its first day. It went on to debut to $35.8 million, finishing first at the box office. It also bested the opening of the first film ($34.1 million) and was the third-best domestic start for Washington. It fell 61% to $14 million in its second weekend, finishing third behind newcomer Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Mamma Mia!, and in its third weekend the film grossed $8.8 million, dropping to fifth place.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 52% based on 206 reviews, and an average rating of 5.6/10. The website s critical consensus reads: The Equalizer 2 delivers the visceral charge of a standard vigilante thriller, but this reunion of trusted talents ultimately proves a disappointing case study in diminishing returns. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews . Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an 86% overall positive score and a 69% definite recommend , while CinemaScore reported filmgoers gave it an average grade of A on an A+ to F scale, up from the first film s A− .

David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a C− , saying: The good news is that fans of Antoine Fuqua s The Equalizer—a bland and pulpy 2014 riff on the 80s TV series of the same name—are in for more of the same. The bad news is the rest of us are too.

Sequel

In August 2018, Fuqua announced his plans to continue the film series, expressing interest in the plot taking place in an international setting.

By January 2022, a third Equalizer film was confirmed to be in development, with Washington to return in the titular role. Fuqua is slated to direct the film. Principal photography was scheduled to commence sometime in 2022, with Washington announcing that the film would be the next he makes.

In April 2022, Sony confirmed that the film was set to be released on September 1, 2023.

Television series

In November 2019, a television series adaptation was announced to be in development with Queen Latifah cast in lead role as Robyn McCall. Andrew Marlowe and Terri Miller were announced as co-showrunners/executive producers, with Latifah also serving as an additional executive producer. In January 2021, when asked about the show s connection to the Equalizer film series, Marlowe stated that while the television series is intended to stand on its own, the opportunity is being left open for a future crossover between the show and the films.

Year	2018
ReleaseDate	2018-07-20
RuntimeMins	121
RuntimeStr	2h 1min
Plot	Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?
Awards	Awards, 1 win & 4 nominations
Directors	Antoine Fuqua
Writers	Richard Wenk, Michael Sloan, Richard Lindheim
Stars	Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders
Produced by	Molly Allen,Todd Black,David J. Bloomfield,Jason Blumenthal,Tony Eldridge,Antoine Fuqua,Mace Neufeld,Kat Samick,Alex Siskin,Michael Sloan,Steve Tisch,Denzel Washington,Richard Wenk
Music by	Harry Gregson-Williams
Cinematography by	Oliver Wood
Film Editing by	Conrad Buff IV
Casting By	Lindsay Graham,Lisa Lobel,Angela Peri,Mary Vernieu
Production Design by	Naomi Shohan
Art Direction by	Tom Frohling,Lauren Rosenbloom
Set Decoration by	David Schlesinger
Costume Design by	Jenny Gering
Makeup Department	Frank Barbosa,Liz Bernstrom,Elizabeth Cecchini,Larry M. Cherry,David Dupuis,Carl Fullerton,Julie LeShane,Brenda McNally,Shayna Passaretti,Joanna Raskin,Sherryn Smith,Miles Girard Watson,Rhet Kidd,Claudia Moriel,Marissa Sawaia
Production Management	Haley Sweet,Vincent G. Scotti
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Matthew Vose Campbell,Jeff Dashnaw,Karen Davis,Edmar Flores,Donald Sparks,Ricky R. Weaver
Art Department	Tobias Aldrich,Gary Alioto,Jason Allard,Christopher Analoro,Beth Anderson,Bobby Anderson,Nick Bellofatto,Steve Brennan,Rachel Burgio,Dakota Carpenter,Mickey Carter,Rick Chavez,Danica Chipman,Thomas Colleran,Donnchadh Gaf Condon,Gregory J. Corcoran,Mary E. DiCicco,Amanda Dobson,Dan Engle,Laura G. Foley,Tim Folger,Kyra Friedman Curcio,Brian Fry,Jared Patrick Gerbig,Drew Hart,Jared Hartley,John Paul ‘J.P.’ Jones,Joseph Kearney,Justin Nathaniel Kistler,Jennifer LaFace,Matthew Lavigne,Daniel Leonard,Raymond Lisi,Lance Littlefield,Jimmy Luc,Jim Magdaleno,Sean Martin,Butch McCarthy,Adam McClain,Jeffrey D. McDonald,Kerri McGill,Joseph L. Melendez,Isaac Nadreau,David T. Parsons,Helen Eggleston Peabody,Jeremy M. Pereira,John Pungitore,Anthony Raymond,Benjamin Regan,Isabel Riley,Peter Rippe,K.C. Roballo,Dean Sherriff,Brandon Smith,Jarrett Staaf,Hilary Taillie,Christine Tobin,Tricia Turczynski,Wilfredo Usuga,Geoff Wallick,Jane Wuu,Alison Katinger
Sound Department	Aaron Bouchard,Joe Cappelletti,Jeremy B. Davis,David Esparza,Julie Feiner,Casey Genton,Nerses Gezalyan,Robin Harlan,Justin Herman,Mark Kenna,Johnny Kubelka,Tim Kuzniar II,Luis Landrau,Daniel J. Leahy,Howard London,Sarah Monat,Steve Pederson,Eryne Prine,Edward Tise,Mandell Winter,Rob Young
Special Effects by	Adam Bellao,Douglas Calli,Thomas Carroll,Tom Carroll,Dale Eldredge,Tim Folger,Emils Gludins,Jeremy Hays,Michael Herald,Mike Herald,Jason Joubert,Randy Krohmer,Juliana Lima,Alexandra Mann,Timothy Massey,Gabor Medveczky,Joe Montenegro,John Ruggieri,Chris L. Ward,Ralph Wilber III
Visual Effects by	Brian Adler,Tom Allen,Eric Bruneau,Brian Budak,Colin Campbell,Dan Cayer,Rachan Chirarattanakornkul,Jake Cohen,Chad E. Collier,Janice Barlow Collier,Kevin Conlon,Jesse Cook III,Meagan Darcy,Heather Davis Baker,Lucas De La Torre,Sean Devereaux,Brian Drewes,Rafael Echegaray,Alex Falcon,Phylicia Feldman,Matthew Friedlander,Tomohiko Fukuda,P. Whitney Gearin,Robby Geis,Robin Scott Graham,Michael S. Harbour,Rich Hardy Jr.,Forbes Hill,Julianne Holzschuh,Yun Peng Hsieh,Lauren Hulsey,Zameer Hussain,Sarah Jones,Brandon Kachel,Gareth Kanter,Matthew Klein,Mihajlo Kocevski,Abhijeet Kumar,Praveen Kumar,James Kuroda,Alma Lafler,Timothy LaFleur,Tim LeDoux,Don Libby,Anu Liikkanen,Jack Lilburn,Robert Liscombe,Madison Maduri,Arnon Manor,Richard Martinson,Eric Mattson,Rebecca McKee,Troy Moore,Jesse Morrow,Marina Mozée,Davy Nethercutt,Francesco Panzieri,Mike Pare,Adam Pere,David Pietricola,Sergej Pulios,Kyle Raffile,Andy Rajput,Ranjith,Greg Reed,Travis Reinke,Charles G. Roberts,Jason Sanford,Ilija Sazdovski,Stephen Schmidt,Nathaniel Sims,Steven Spady,Igor Stanoev,James Steller,Ryan Swan,Annalisa Torina,Michele C. Vallillo,Sergio Villegas,Jennifer Wang,Carmen Wong,Radoslav Yanudov,Meena Yu,Tomas Zaveckas,Rajesh Babu,Zach Christian,Prakash Pathak,Seye Tesfazgy,Joseph Towe
Stunts	Andrei Arlovski,Ben Aycrigg,Eric Brown,Steve Brown,Marcus Lamar Cella,Jason Chu,Max Daniels,J.J. Dashnaw,Jeff Dashnaw,Rockey Dickey Jr.,Zack Duhame,Yves Edwards,Charlie Fernandez,Clay Donahue Fontenot,Edward Gabree,Tim Gilbert,Mick Gould,Daniel Graham,John W. Hoffman,Owen Holland,Tyrone Jackson Jr.,Kirk A. Jenkins,Horace Knight Jr.,Mandy Kowalski,Josh Lakatos,Tony Lazzara,Don Lee,Matt Macomber,Julia Maggio,Paul Marini,John Vincent Mason,Michael Morash,Carrick O’Quinn,Lin Oeding,Stephen Oyoung,Jacques Philippe,Jodi Michelle Pynn,Frank III Rose,Matthew Rugetti,Ryan Ryusaki,Erik Schultz,Tyrone Seally,Tim Sitarz,Ryan Staats,Shawnna Thibodeau,George J. Vezina,Vicky Weaver,Tyron Woodley
Camera and Electrical Department	Paul Jacob Bashour,Joseph Battista,Thomas Bellotti,Eric Robert Bradshaw Bennett,Carlos Bermudez,Malachi Bibel,Steven Blizzard,Peter Boynton,Mark Brochu,Sasha Burdett,Dave Cambria,Rick Cardillo,Tony Carmean,David Conelli,Nathan Coscia,Phil Darrell,Kenny Davis,John S. DeSimone,Michael Dynice,Dean Egan,Willie Estrada,Kirk R. Gardner,John Garrett,Christian Gibson,Dan Godar,Eric Goddard,Nate Goodman,Phil Greene,Quinn Grove,David Hallas,P.J. Hand,Steve Harnell,Matt Hedges,Brian Heller,Jose ‘Flecha’ Hernandez,Michael Holzwarth,Jason Hooper,Mark Jenkins,John R. Kaplan,Brendan Keefe,Tom Keenan,Dustin Keller,Robert Knowles,Jonathan Kobs,Chris Krzykowski,Dave Kudrowitz,Ed Lalli,Vinnie Laraway,Zachary K. Lazar,David Leite,Maz Makhani,Chris Malenfant,Gordon D. Manson,Roger Marbury,Dan Mason,John F. McCarthy,Brandon J. Meadows,James R. Mitchell,John J. Moers,Frank Montesanto,A. Kyo Moon,Robert Nadrowski,Alexander Jay Nelson,Michael Nelson,Chris Nickerson,Todd England Nicodemus,Brian O’Connor,Gary M. Olitsky,Mark Oliver,Georgia Pantazopoulos,Bob Paré,Melanie Patten,Adam Peabody,Harry Pray IV,Josh Pressey,Mckenzie Raycroft,Michael Rodríguez Torrent,Chuck Rudolph,Shawn S. Ryder,Chris Ryerson,Henry Schroeder,Jay Sheveck,Zack Shultz,Steve Sikora,Pierson Silver,Lori Snow,Audrey L. Stevens,Darrell Temple,Robert Thorpe,Cody Preston Troxell,Benton Ward,Joshua Weilbrenner,Frans Wetterings III,Derek Whittington,Bradley Everett Wilson,Glen Wilson
Casting Department	Mike Clifford,Josh Engler,Grace Gallant,Patty Rhinehart,Heather Whitty,Jenna Comins-Addis
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Queensylvia Akuchie,Darek Beeman,Elizabeth Clifford,Beau Desmond,Randi Featherstone,Gail A. Fitzgibbons,Alanna Keenan,Sarah Hill Richmond,Erin Rose,Frank Perry Rose,Jill Thibault,Jennifer Lynn Tremblay,Taryn Walsh,Colleen Wilson
Editorial Department	Paul Carlin,Brit DeLillo,Adrian DeLude,Leeza Diott,Jason Dougherty,Carole A. Kenneally,Gabriele McIntyre,Stephen F. Newnam,Stephen Regnier,Alexis Ross,Stefan Sonnenfeld,Ian Sullivan,Jitte Hoekstra,Tyrell Lloyd,Eric Stapf
Location Management	Eric Crocombe,Jeremy Fiske,Mark Fitzgerald,Brendan Flynn,Jason Fritz,Sam Gillis,Samantha Hills,Michael Judge,Jessica Logan,Joe Piasecki,Victoria Virtue,Joshua Youman,Leslie Zules
Music Department	Jabari Ali,Helen Z. Altenbach,Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli,Spring Aspers,Jacob Braun,Justin Caine Burnett,Al Clay,Meredith Crawford,Peter DiStefano,George Doering,Justin Jtrx Echols,Stephanie Economou,Art Ford,Ross Gasworth,Peter Gregson,Chris Hanebutt,Luanne Homzy,Michael Kaufman,Brian Kilgore,Ladd McIntosh,Aaron Meyer,Morgan Peeters,Peter Rotter,Dennis S. Sands,Karoline Menezes Smith,Denis Surov,Maronda T’Pring,Alvin Wee,Booker White,Mike Whitson,Mark Jan Wlodarkiewicz,Monica Zierhut,Nicholas J. Cazares
Script and Continuity Department	Aidan Payne,Dug Rotstein
Transportation Department	Billy Benner,Jon Campagna,Roderick R. Davidson Jr.,Brendan Flaherty,Curtis Norman Fuqua,David Kenney,Lauren Cooper Mendoza,Kevin Oconnell,Davin Olson,Robby Wright
Additional Crew	Nicole Aiguier,Eric Olin Anderson,Fabienne Annylusse,Liana Arauz,Nate Atwood,Ralph Ayala,Michael Bartholet,Marisa Bellis,Eric Bergquist,Thomas Bianco,Nick Bommer,Lacy Boughn,Amanda Breen,Asia Bullock,John W. Burke,Michael Callas,Matt Campbell,Dakota Carpenter,Ceci Cleary,Eden Cohen,Jesse Cook III,Eric Crocombe,Kayla Cruz,Steven P. DeCoste Jr.,Jennifer Driscoll,Christopher Dunford,Ryan Eatherton,Rick Carlos Ernst,Manny Famolare,Curtis Norman Fuqua,Zachary Fuqua,Cody Galante,Kaitlyn Gatto,Andrea Giannetti,Kirsten Grimes,Dogan Can Gundogdu,Yerman Gur,Lisa Boucher Hartman,Arthur Hiou,Guy Holt,Margaret Horning,Emmy Horton,Griffin Howes,Ashley Hughes,Hannah Kelsy,Nathan Alexander Kirk,Kyle Lafleur,Shari LaFranchi Blakney,Lauren Laperriere,Angela S. Lee,Lydia Look,Robert Marsella,Devin McDonough,Ryan McPeake,David Moore,Danny Morlock,Saalahudeen Lunsford Muhammed,Jason Mulcahy,Aylam Orian,Kylie Paul,Rita Pearson,Michael Peavey,Herb Polack,Rachel Quinn,Hannah Roble,Alessia Rosaria,Roy Samuelson,John Sansone,Nadia Sayess,Serena Shen,Francis Smith,Andrew Somers,Travis Starr,Cid Swank,Adam Teper,Michael Ullman,Alan Resnic,Matthew Rhode,Kyle Wilkins,J.D. Witherspoon
Thanks	Jim Schramm
Genres	Action, Crime, Thriller
Companies	Columbia Pictures, Escape Artists, Hill District Media
Countries	USA
Languages	English, French, Turkish, Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish
ContentRating	R
ImDbRating	6.7
ImDbRatingVotes	158511
MetacriticRating	50
Keywords	brussels belgium,woman fights a man,gun,returning character killed off,gunfight