The Big Picture
The Equalizer 3 brings back Robert McCall in a way he hasn’t been seen in ever since the franchise began in 2014, with a new wave of violence threatening to take the strong action hero out of comission. Andrea Scarduzo stars in the third installment of the franchise as Vincent Quaranta, one of the antagonists. During a recent interview with Collider, the actor spoke about which sequence from the sequel was the hardest to film, and it turns out it was a scene that was crucial for the development of his character, and for the journey of the protagonist of the story:
Well, by far, definitely, no doubt, the final part of the death, when I’m crawling in the streets. It was very tough to shoot. It was full winter. We were shooting in December, and it was about five degrees out. Well, it was cold as fuck. It was raining, and we were shooting a lot of hours, and, you know, crawling on those cobblestones is not fun. Actually, I got scars on this leg here and here on my foot, I got scars because I was really bleeding, and deep cuts. [Laughs] It was very tough, and there was a moment that Denzel came near me and he said, “You’re doing great. I mean it.” And then he walked away.
The actor continued to explain why the complicated weather conditions were a difficult factor to deal with during the production of the scene: “Then the same night he came back, it was raining. You don’t see that in the movie because sometimes it would pour rain, literally pouring rain, and then it would stop… So anyway, he came back, and he was looking at the stars, and he looked at me, and he looked at the stars, and he went, “What do they know? What do they know? They think it’s all parties and the words and traveling and money and this and that. What do they know about the cold nights in full winter, crawling in the streets of Naples, bleeding, puking? What do they know?” And he walked away. I got goosebumps. That, for me, was him saying, “Alright, dude, respect.””
In the new film featuring Washington’s Robert McCall, the titular hero is gravely injured after trying to retrieve money stolen from an illicit transaction. After considering ending his career once and for all, he decides to escape and live to fight another day. The latest challenge McCall has to face is a more spiritual one, as he can’t physically fight his way out of this problem. The only ally the hero can count on is agent Emma Collins-Plummer (Dakota Fanning), who could help him track down the people responsible for his current situation.
‘The Equalizer’ at the Box Office
The Equalizer 3 had the strongest debut at the domestic box office the franchise has ever seen, with a projected $42 million across the entire Labor Day weekend. Compared to its predecessors, the first film in the series grossed $34 million on its 2014 debut, while the first sequel gathered $36 million when it was it’s time to shine in 2017. Depending on how it manages upcoming competition like The Nun II, it looks like the latest project by Antoine Fuqua will turn out to be the most successful in the franchise, almost a decade after the current iteration of the character began.
You can check out Collider’s interview with Antoine Fuqua below:
