'The Equalizer' sequel: Do Oscar-winning actors in action movies always mean box office success?
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
A sequel to the Denzel Washington film 鈥淭he Equalizer鈥� will reportedly be released.
According to the , Sony, the studio behind the first film, is going ahead with a sequel to the action movie. The film is based on the 1980s TV show of the same name and stars Washington as Robert McCall, a former member of US intelligence, as well as actors Chloe Grace Moretz, Marton Csokas, Bill Pullman, and Melissa Leo. The movie featured the re-teaming of director Antoine Fuqua and Washington 鈥� Fuqua directed Washington to a Best Actor Oscar for the 2001 movie 鈥淭raining Day.鈥�
鈥淓qualizer鈥� was released this past September and was a box office hit.
Washington has starred in various action movies throughout his career and so this is just his most recent success in the genre. But the past few years at the movies have seen several actors who have won or been nominated for Academy Awards heading up action films. Actor Liam Neeson, primarily known for critically acclaimed films such as 鈥淪chindler鈥檚 List鈥� and 鈥淜insey,鈥� showed how this path could be a financial success, starring in the action film 鈥淭aken鈥� in 2009. The movie became a box office success and, while it received poor reviews, critic Derek Elley, for one, noted that 鈥淣eeson makes a surprisingly convincing one-man mean machine鈥� For a thesp now in his mid-50s, he handles the niftily edited, bone-crunching action.鈥� Neeson went on to star in 鈥淭aken 2,鈥� 鈥淭aken 3,鈥� 鈥淭he Grey,鈥� and 鈥淩un All Night,鈥� among other action films.聽
Since then, other Academy-Award winning actors like Colin Firth and Sean Penn have also appeared in movies that had them doing more stunts. Firth appeared in this February鈥檚 鈥淜ingsman: The Secret Service,鈥� while Penn recently starred in the film 鈥淭he Gunman.鈥澛�
Is seeking out these acclaimed actors a good investment for an action movie? Such films have had mixed performances at the box office. While 鈥淭aken鈥� was a hit, the sequels have steadily declined in domestic gross, according to the website , and Neeson鈥檚 films 鈥淎 Walk Among the Tombstones,鈥� which came out this past September, did not fare well financially. "Run鈥� was also not a hit, nor was Penn鈥檚 movie 鈥淕unman.鈥� 鈥淜ingsman鈥� was a hit, but was an anticipated adaptation of a comic book.聽
Results can be mixed. However, when a movie is a hit, like 鈥淓qualizer鈥� or the first 鈥淭aken,鈥� it often scores big.
