The Equalizer was originally one of those cheesy action shows from the ’80s: think MacGyver or The A-Team. It starred Edward Woodward as an ex-CIA operative who had quit the company and was living out his retirement as a sort of pro bono operative for hire who would find people in need of help by posting a classified ad in the paper that read, “Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer. 212-555-4200.” Seeing as this show is a fairly cheesy thing from the ’80s that very few people actually remember, of course Hollywood wants to bring it back as a big screen adaptation. The only problem is, Sony has been working to put the project together, and they’ve been having some trouble finding a director.
According to a new report from Heat Vision, Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn was originally attached to helm the film, but he eventually dropped off of the project after butting heads with its attached star, Denzel Washington. Apparently getting an acting nomination for Flight must have Washington riding high, because you’d think the guy would realize that his career has been less than stellar lately and maybe allowing a hot director like Refn to come on board one of his projects and do his thing would be a smart move.
All of this spilt milk might not matter though, because the new news is that, after going through a short list of directors over the past few weeks, Sony has decided that they want Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt to come on and be the new (co?) captain of this ship. Discussions are said to be in their early stages, and Wyatt is an in-demand director who presumably has a number of other potential offers on his plate, so we’ll have to wait and see if this pairing sticks.
If it does, though, is Wyatt going to be the right guy to come onto a project that seems to bring a demanding star along with it as part of its package? He did manage to get a rare, non-stoned performance out of James Franco for Planet of the Apes, so maybe he’s on his way to building a reputation as an expert star-wrangler. One day he just may be the key component to that Lindsay Lohan comeback everyone keeps waiting for. You never know.