Although The Equalizer, an action-thriller starring Denzel Washington as a former black ops commando who decides to help strangers in peril, has yet to open, it's creating serious buzz for a sequel and more heat for director Antoine Fuqua.  As we previously reported, Fuqua will follow-up with the boxing drama Southpaw, and he recently signed on to direct the thriller Narco Sub.  He's also received an offer to direct the remake of the 1960 western The Magnificent Seven.  For those unfamiliar with the film, it's a remake of Akira Kurosawa's classic 1954 film Seven Samurai, but instead of samurai being hired to protect a small village, it's gunslingers in the old west.

Now it looks like if Fuqua takes the gig, it might serve as a third team-up with Washington.  Hit the jump for more.

According Schmoes Know, Fuqua has already signed on to The Magnificent Seven, and now Washington, who won an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in Fuqua's Training Day, is being rumored to play the lead role.

Even if Washington signs on, The Magnificent Seven will still probably be a ways off due to Fuqua's other commitments.  Additionally, Washington might be trying to set up his own action-thriller franchise with The Equalizer a la Liam Neeson and Taken.

Personally, I always want to see Washington take on more dramatic material, but he loves his action movies, and if that's the way he wants to go, so be it.  I just hope that the scripts for these films are worthy of his talent.

[Update: Variety confirms that Fuqua and Washington are in talks for The Magnificent Seven.  Additionally, Variety reports that the most recent draft is by John Lee Hancock, but that will probably change if Fuqua signs on since directors usually like to rework scripts when they board a project.]