Denzel Washington Action Movie Scores Big at the Box Office Despite Hollywood's Struggles
A new sequel starring Denzel Washington scored big at the box office in its opening weekend.
“The Equalizer 3,” the latest installment in an action movie franchise, came in the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office with $42.25 million over the Labor Day weekend, Deadline reported Monday. From Friday to Sunday without the holiday, the film brought in $34.6 million.
The movie is performing pretty well at a time when Hollywood is facing one problem after another.
The industry has failed to reach deals with striking screenwriters and actors, who have been on the picket line for months.
On top of that, studios are struggling to get people into theaters to see many recent movies, apart from summer hits such as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”
Despite these setbacks, the $42 million domestic debut for “The Equalizer 3” made it the second-highest Labor Day weekend opening of all time. The film that holds that title is Marvel Studios’ 2021 superhero entry “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” which raked in $94.6 million in the U.S. over the same period.
Internationally, the action threequel made $26.1 million, according to USA Today, for a combined total of more than $68 million by the end of the holiday.
Notably, the opening weekend’s box office almost surpassed the movie’s $70 million production budget.
As of Thursday, the worldwide total for “Equalizer 3” stood at $74.3 million, according to the box office website The Numbers.
These numbers are not bad considering the film’s star couldn’t even promote it because of his participation in the striking Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Despite this, Washington managed to bring in audiences to see his new movie.
He’s #1 for a reason.
Don’t miss Denzel Washington in #TheEqualizer3 – get tickets to see the #1 movie in the world, now playing exclusively in movie theaters: https://t.co/hgSrjKotLv pic.twitter.com/nelqvTUQio
— The Equalizer (@TheEqualizer) September 7, 2023
“The Equalizer 3” follows retired government assassin Robert McCall (Washington) returning to his old ways to take on the Italian mafia.
The R-rated action film has received mostly positive reviews from both critics and audiences alike as seen on Rotten Tomatoes, although the latter seemed to enjoy it more.
‘THE EQUALIZER 3’ debuts with A on CinemaScore.
Read our review: https://t.co/e0SYHgOSmz pic.twitter.com/MAOrZLmIU2
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 2, 2023
So @ThatChrisGore said to me that The Equalizer 3 was a western. I had no idea what he really meant. Then I saw the film and I know exactly what he means now.
Highly enjoyable film. The kind we are really missing in this day and age.
— Heel vs Babyface (@heelvsbabyface) August 30, 2023
It’s really good, everything ties all together at the end. Equalizer trilogy might be my favorite Denzel flicks and that says a lot
— Matt Muncy (@Renegade937OHIO) September 8, 2023
While “The Equalizer 3” blew away its competition domestically over the weekend, “Barbie” came in second with $10.6 million and “Blue Beetle” in third with $7.3 million.
It remains to be seen exactly how much money it will make in the weeks ahead, but it seems “The Equalizer 3” at least has a chance to hit its break-even point of $175 million.
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