Today it has been officially announced that The Equalizer 3 will be heading to theaters with star Denzel Washington set to return. The film is currently scheduled to come out on September 1, 2023, and will be screened in premium large formats and IMAX.

Fans of the series were beginning to wonder if they would ever get to see the trilogy completed. The Equalizer 2 came out back in 2018 and there has not been much word on the third film since. The film hasn’t even been officially confirmed until now. The most fans had to grab onto was back in January when during promotion for The Tragedy of Macbeth, Washington said in an interview:

"They have written the third Equalizer, so I’m scheduled to do that. So I gotta get in shape and start beating people up again. I get to beat people up again. The tragedy of Macbeth and then going and beating some people up. Can’t get any better, right?"

The Equalizer series is a reboot of the classic 80s television series of the same name created by Richard Lindheim and Michael Sloan. The series followed Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a retired intelligence agent who becomes a private detective. The film series sees Washington taking up the role of Robert McCall. There is also currently a reboot of the series running on CBS in its second season starring Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall.

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Image via Sony

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The first film, from 2014, saw Washington starring alongside Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Melissa Leo, and Bill Pullman as he faced off against the Russian Mafia to protect a young girl. The 2018 sequel as Washington, Leo, and Pullman all return and are joined by Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, and Orson Bean as Washington’s McCall set out on a mission of revenge after one of his friends is murdered. The plot and returning cast of The Equalizer 3 are being kept under wraps.

Both the previous films in Washington’s series were directed by Antoine Fuqua. Fuqua is also known for directing films like Olympus Has Fallen, Shooter, The Magnificent Seven, and he directed Washington to his second Academy Award in Training Day. Whether Fuqua will be returning to direct the third film has yet to be announced.

Additionally, both the previous films were written by Richard Wenk, who is also known for writing such action films as Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, The Magnificent Seven, and The Protégé, and wrote the upcoming films Fast Charlie and Kraven the Hunter. While Washington’s quote above says the script has been written already, it is unconfirmed who wrote it or if Wenk was involved.

Stay tuned to Collider for any future updates on The Equalizer 3 and catch the film when it comes to theaters on September 1, 2023.