'The Equalizer 3' Makes Second Best Labor Day Opening in Box Office History

Millennium Media and Lionsgate’s Expendables 4 was the only new wide release on last night seeing $750K in previews that began at 6PM.

A trio of new shows joined Broadway last week to mostly decent box office figures as the fall season begins to take shape.

EXCLUSIVE: After Universal decided to go early with The Exorcist: Believer, the Blumhouse/Morgan Creek sequel reboot is eyeing a $30M+ opening on tracking, Deadline has learned from sources.

The Equaliser 3, but it was scaled back after audiences reacted badly to it in preview screenings.The film, Washington’s final appearance as McCall, sees the retired intelligence officer living in a small Italian town where the friendly residents are being terrorised by local Mafioso. One of the residents is waitress Aminah, played by Gaia Scodellaro.

“The Nun 2” is scaring up a box-office win in its opening weekend.

The Nun 2 made $3.1M last night at 3,200 locations.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Vogter,” a psychological thriller directed by Gustav Möller, whose previous film “The Guilty” won the Audience Award at Sundance, has been pre-sold by Les Films du Losange to multiple territories. “Vogter,” which was just completed and is now in post, has been picked up for Germany, Austria, Switzerland (Ascot Elite), Spain (La Aventura), Italy (Movies Inspired), Japan (Happinet Phantom Studios), Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg (Cineart), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (Kino Pavasaris) and Hungary (Vertigo). Les Films du Losange has closed these deals since unveiling the project at Cannes and is negotiating further sales in other key territories.

Lea Michele treated the final-night audience of Broadway’s Funny Girl to an extra song Sunday, performing “My Man,” popularized by Fanny Brice in 1921 but not included in the musical’s original score.

Naman Ramachandran Sony’s “The Equalizer 3” has finally toppled the six-week reign of “Barbie” atop the U.K. and Ireland box office. Antoine Fuqua’s action thriller, headlined by Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning, debuted with £2.7 million ($3.4 million), per numbers from Comscore.

Michaela Zee “The Equalizer 3” is still on track to earn the second-biggest Labor Day opening weekend in history with an estimated $42.3 million. While the holiday isn’t traditionally a box office draw, Denzel Washington’s assassin-thriller surpassed the previous Labor Day debut runner-up: Rob Zombie’s 2007 “Halloween” remake, which grossed $30 million through Monday. Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” still holds the Labor Day crown with a $94.6 million four-day opening in 2021.

J. Kim Murphy Denzel Washington’s “The Equalizer 3” is showing some box office virtuosity, taking flight in its domestic debut after grossing $13.1 million on opening day from 3,241 venues. That includes $3.8 million in Thursday previews, boosted by showtimes in premium large format auditoriums.

Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer 3 will not let this summer go out quietly in what’s expected to be a $30M-$40M 4-day opening weekend; poised to be the second-best ever for the holiday after Shang-Chi ($94.6M). Last night from showtimes that began at 3PM, the Sony threequel clocked $3.8M at 3,241 locations.

Jordan Moreau Denzel Washington is back as professional killer Robert McCall in “The Equalizer 3,” which has made $3.8 million in previews at the box office. The R-rated, action thriller is expected to make between $28 million and $30 million in its opening weekend. With the Labor Day holiday on Monday, it could grow from $33 million to $40 million in the four-day frame.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Denzel Washington’s assassin thriller “The Equalizer 3” is gunning for the top spot on box office charts over Labor Day weekend. The R-rated film is projected to earn $28 million to $30 million between Friday and Sunday and $33 million to $40 million through the four-day holiday frame. As this weekend’s only new nationwide release, “Equalizer 3” shouldn’t have any trouble in knocking down the prior box office champion, Sony’s racing drama “Gran Turismo,” which opened to $17.4 million and looks to add $7 million to $9 million in its sophomore outing.

J. Kim Murphy Director Antoine Fuqua is being sued by a former collaborator for an alleged failure to credit or compensate the plaintiff for their contributions on “The Equalizer 3.” In a 20-page document filed Monday in the Los Angeles Superior Court, Paul Lozada filed complaints for breach of oral contract, implied-in-fact contract, common counts and promissory fraud. A former San Francisco Police Department officer, Lozada had allegedly served as a consultant on previous Fuqua films such as “Training Day” and the first “Equalizer,” advising the productions on providing authenticity to their depictions of law enforcement and crime organizations.

Good Night, Oscar, the Oscar Levant bio-play starring Sean Hayes, and El Mago Pop, the Broadway debut of Spanish illusionist Antonio Díaz, ended their limited Broadway engagements on upswings last week, with the former selling out for its best week take of $1,147,057 and the magician conjuring a big $2,717,000 to break the house record at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre with an unusually busy 13-performance week.

Belíssimo.Italian organized crime makes a weightier match for deadly Robert McCall — a Godzilla vs. Mothra of the world’s seedy underbelly.

Returning for the third installment in the gritty action saga, The Equalizer 3 aims to deepen the mysterious world of Robert McCall. With Denzel Washington’s undeniable charm at its helm and Antione Fuqua’s seasoned direction, the film promises a continuation of its intense street-justice narrative. Yet, does it deliver the high-octane thrills we’ve come to expect, or does it falter under the weight of its own legacy? In addition to Washington, the film also stars Dakota Fanning, Eugenio Mastrandrea, Andrea Scarduzio, and Remo Girone. Richard Wenk returns as screenwriter.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Just who is the Equalizer? Despite a hit TV show in the 1980s and another with Queen Latifah still running, that title has become synonymous with Denzel Washington, who returns as government-assassin-turned-vigilante Robert McCall. Billed as the final chapter in a trilogy, “The Equalizer 3” sees McCall finding community in a picturesque part of Italy and being forced to protect its people from the mafia. The film also reteams Washington with director Antoine Fuqua for the fifth time (following “Training Day,” “The Magnificent Seven” and the two previous installments), and their comfort with one another ensures a seamless action movie that might not attract new fans, but should play well to those already fond of this franchise.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Fandango Sales will launch international distribution at the Venice Film Festival on Tommaso Santambrogio’s “Oceans Are the Real Continents,” set and shot in a run-down contemporary Cuba. The film opens the festival’s independently run Venice Days section.