Tag: Antoine Fuqua

Posted on in Film News, News

Antoine Fuqua Open To Hypothetical ‘Equalizer’ Prequel Starring Michael B. Jordan Or John David Washington As Young Robert McCall

This week sees the third installment of the feature film incarnation of “The Equalizer” with both star Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua reuniting for an Italian-set sequel that sees Robert McCall going up against the local mafia after going head-to-head with the Russian mob in Boston for the first pic.

During the press tour for “The Equalizer 3,” Fuqua spoke with genre outlet JoBlo earlier in the month where they brought up the idea of a Robert McCall prequel focusing on a younger version of the skilled former government operator. Fuqua seemed game to the idea and mentioned the hypothetical casting of Michael B. Jordan (“Black Panther,” “Creed III”) before the interviewer brought up Denzel’s actor son, John David Washington (“Tenet,” “The Creator”) which the filmmaker agreed was a better pick.

When we asked Fuqua what he thought about developing an Equalizer prequel, he agreed it would be an idea worth exploring.

“I think it’s a really good idea to do that, and go back,” Fuqua said. “You can get Michael B. Jordan or somebody to be the young McCall.”

To which JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray then suggested, “Why not John David [Washington]?”

“Even better, right,” Fuqua replied. “Wouldn’t that be amazing?” After a brief pause, Fuqua added, “That’s a good idea! How cool would that be, man?”

There aren’t current plans at Sony to make a prequel, however, that might be a good way to go if they want to keep things rolling. Screenwriter Richard Wenk has been writing these films and could be relied upon to develop a prequel that very well could take place in the 1980s or 1990s. Clearly, hiring younger actors that could fill those shoes would be preferable to CGI de-aging technology that is getting better, but just not good enough.

To which JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray then suggested, “Why not John David [Washington]?” “Even better, right,” Fuqua replied. “Wouldn’t that be amazing?” After a brief pause, Fuqua added, “That’s a good idea! How cool would that be, man?”

Sony Pictures’ official synopsis for “The Equalizer 3” reads as follows:

Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.

“The Equalizer 3” opens in theaters on September 1 and will see Washington share some screentime with “Man On Fire” co-star Dakota Fanning.

SOURCE: JO BLO

Posted on in Film News

Antoine Fuqua’s Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Infinite’ Starring Mark Wahlberg & Chiwetel Ejiofor Heading To Paramount+ Next Month

Originally set for release in theaters on September 24, Paramount Pictures has decided to move their big sci-fi film Infinite to their streaming service Paramount+ for sometime in June. The project directed by Training Day’s Antoine Fuqua stars Mark Wahlberg, Chitwetel Ejiofor, Dylan O’Brien, Toby Jones, Rupert Friend, Jason Mantzoukas, Sophie Cookson, and Wallis Day.

It’s a feature adaptation of the D. Eric Maikranz novel The Reincarnationist Papers.

For Evan McCauley (Mark Wahlberg), skills he has never learned and memories of places he has never visited haunt his daily life. Self-medicated and on the brink of a mental breakdown, a secret group that call themselves ‘Infinites’ come to his rescue, revealing to him that his memories are real – but they are from multiple past lives. The Infinites bring Evan into their extraordinary world, where a gifted few are given the ability to be reborn with their memories and knowledge accumulated over centuries. With critical secrets buried in his past, Evan must work with the Infinites to unlock the answers in his memories in a race against time to save humanity from one of their own (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who seeks to destroy it.

Chiwetel Ejiofor was recently seen in the popular Netflix comic book film The Old Guard alongside Oscar-winner Charlize Theron and is expected to have wrapped filming on Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness for Marvel Studios. The latter project potentially seeing him finally becoming the big-bad version of his MCU character Baron Karl Mordo.

This could be a potential sign of other studios looking to dump their summer and fall releases on streaming services to avoid low audience turn-out to focus on adding new/original content to places like Paramount+, a streamer that is going to need an influx of new films and series if it’s going to become competitive.

I’ll be interested to see if Paramount+ ends up getting their hands on other big Paramount movies later in the year. Showtime’s high-profile series adaptation of the Halo video game franchise recently moved to the streaming service not too long ago.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Netflix Spends $30M To Secure Remake of Danish Thriller ‘The Guilty’ Directed By Antoine Fuqua and Starring Jake Gyllenhaal

Deadline reports that Netflix is spending a massive $30 million on securing the worldwide rights to an English remake of the Danish film Den skyldige aka The Guilty from Training Day director Antoine Fuqua and True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto.

Nightcrawler’s Jake Gyllenhaal will play 911 dispatch operator Joe Bayler. 

It takes place over the course of a single morning in a 911 dispatch call center. Call operator Joe Bayler (Gyllenhaal) tries to save a caller in grave danger—but he soon discovers that nothing is as it seems, and facing the truth is the only way out.

Here is the trailer for the original Danish film. 

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Antoine Fuqua To Direct Will Smith In Runaway Slave Action Thriller ‘Emancipation’

Deadline is reporting some news from the Cannes Virtual Marketplace as Will Smith and Training Day director Antoine Fuqua will be uniting for a new runaway salve action thriller titled Emancipation.

An action thriller about the harrowing escape of Peter (Smith), a runaway slave forced to outwit cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on a tortuous journey North. There he joined the Union Army.

 Willam N. Collage penned the script.

Filming on Emancipation is expected to begin in early 2021.

You might remember that Will Smith had turned down the titular role in Quentin Tarantino’s slave era revenge action flick Django Unchained with the role of Django instead going to fellow Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx. However, it sounds like Emancipation is going to be less tongue-and-cheek than the Tarantino film.

Fuqua recently worked on the sci-fi thriller Infinite starring Mark Wahlberg and Smith has yet to complete production on King Richard.