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38-426: The Equalizer is an American vigilante action thriller multimedia franchise initially co-created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim. It originated with a CBS television series from 1985 to 1989 starring Edward Woodward . The concept was thereafter rebooted twice with a trilogy of movies ( The Equalizer in 2014, The Equalizer 2 in 2018, and The Equalizer 3 in 2023) starring Denzel Washington and

76-517: A 2012 interview with the Los Angeles Times that the dramatic fictional crash depicted in Flight was "loosely inspired" by the 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 , which was caused by a broken jackscrew. In that incident, an ungreased jackscrew came loose and caused a catastrophic failure from which recovery was impossible, though pilot Ted Thompson and first officer Bill Tansky were able to fly

114-435: A blow to his head and loses consciousness. Whip awakens in an Atlanta hospital with moderate injuries and is greeted by his old friend, Charlie Anderson, who represents the airline's pilots union . Whip learns his piloting skill managed to save 96 out of 102 aboard the plane, losing two crew members and four passengers. Evans is in a coma. Whip is then visited by friend and drug dealer Harling Mays, who proffers porn magazines,

152-520: A carton of cigarettes, and a pint of vodka, the last of which Whip refuses. Whip sneaks away for a cigarette and meets Nicole, recovering from an overdose in the same hospital, along with a cheerful chemotherapy patient. The next morning, Mays picks up Whip from the hospital. Having retired to his late father's farm, Whip meets Charlie and attorney Hugh Lang, who explain that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) performed

190-401: A drug test while he was unconscious. Results showed that Whip was intoxicated during the flight, although Hugh gets the toxicology report voided on technical grounds. Whip visits and becomes intimate with Nicole, but his drinking habits clash with Nicole's attempts to stay drug-free. Later, he attends a funeral for Katerina, a flight attendant who died in the crash, and with whom Whip had spent

228-487: A good question." Robert Zemeckis entered negotiations to direct Flight in April 2011, and by early June had accepted, with Denzel Washington about to finalize his own deal. It was the first time that Zemeckis and Washington had worked together on a motion picture. By mid-September 2011, Kelly Reilly was in negotiations to play the female lead, with Don Cheadle , Bruce Greenwood , and John Goodman joining later in

266-575: A movie character make such a harrowing personal journey that keeps us in deep sympathy all of the way." He also noted the plane's upside-down flight scene was "one of the most terrifying flight scenes I've ever witnessed" and called the film "nearly flawless". Ebert went on to name the film the sixth best of 2012. Although the film was not nominated for Best Picture , he later noted that it deserved to be. Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Denzel Washington didn't get an Oscar nod for nothing: His performance as an alcoholic airline pilot ensnared by his own heroics

304-401: A net production budget of $ 55 million. On February 24, 2014, seven months before the release of The Equalizer , Sony Pictures Entertainment and Escape Artists announced they were planning a sequel , with Richard Wenk penning the script again. In early October 2014, Antoine Fuqua stated that sequel to the film would be made only if audiences and Denzel Washington wanted it. He said he

342-758: A production budget of $ 31 million. Flight appeared on multiple critics' year-end top ten lists and received two nominations at the 85th Academy Awards for Best Actor (Washington) and Best Original Screenplay . Airline pilot Captain Whip Whitaker snorts cocaine to stay alert after a long night of drinking in his Orlando hotel room with Katerina Marquez, a flight attendant he will be flying with later that morning. He pilots SouthJetAir Flight 227 to Atlanta , which experiences severe turbulence during takeoff. Meanwhile, amateur photographer and drug addict Nicole Maggen buys heroin and has an argument with her landlord. She suffers an overdose after injecting herself with

380-637: A re-imagined 2021 television series , also on CBS, starring Queen Latifah as Robyn McCall. Original co-creator Michael Sloan has written a series of novels featuring Robert McCall, with the first volume published in 2014. The franchise centers on a retired intelligence agent with a mysterious past who uses the skills from their former career to exact justice on behalf of innocent people who find themselves in dangerous circumstances while sometimes also dealing with people from their past in covert operations who want to pull them back in or settle old scores. The original show ran for four seasons of 22 episodes each. It

418-495: A reboot was in development with Queen Latifah in the lead role as Robyn McCall. Andrew Marlowe and Terri Miller were to serve as showrunners with Latifah herself as an executive producer. On January 27, 2020, CBS ordered a pilot for the new version. The series was among the 14 pilots ordered by CBS in February 2020 and was fast tracked to series the following March, as they were unable to film their pilots where Universal Television

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456-485: A sample of 236 critics on Rotten Tomatoes , with a weighted average of 6.90/10. The site's consensus states "Robert Zemeckis makes a triumphant return to live-action cinema with Flight , a thoughtful and provocative character study propelled by a compelling performance from Denzel Washington". Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on reviews from 40 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave

494-521: A season-one episode of the original Equalizer television series titled "The Defector", in which she portrayed the daughter of a former Soviet agent, who enlists McCall's help to defect to the United States. Marton Csokas was cast to play the villain on May 17. The Equalizer grossed $ 101.5 million in North America and $ 90.8 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $ 192.3 million, against

532-404: Is crash-and-burn epic". The film received some criticism from pilots who questioned its realism, particularly the premise of a pilot being able to continue flying with a significant substance-abuse problem. The Air Line Pilots' Association dismissed the film as an inaccurate portrayal of an air crew and stated that "we all enjoy being entertained, but a thrilling tale should not be mistaken for

570-412: Is lecturing a support group of fellow inmates. He mentions that not all of the deceased victims' families have come to forgive him, but he is glad to be sober and having done the right thing. He is also working to rebuild his relationships with Nicole and his son, who visits to interview Whip for a college application essay. He begins by asking, "Who are you?" As a plane flies overhead, Whip replies, "That's

608-637: Is simply entitled The Equalizer published in 2014, followed by Killed in Action: An Equalizer Novel , which was released in 2018. The novels are a modern reimagining of the original series and focus on McCall leaving the Company and eventually becoming a private investigator in New York. It also features a number of original recurring characters from the television series, such as Mickey Kostmayer, Control, and Scott McCall. A third novel, Equalizer: Requiem

646-463: The New York Film Festival on October 14, 2012, and was theatrically released the following month on November 2. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Washington's performance and Zemeckis' return to live-action filmmaking, his first such film since Cast Away and What Lies Beneath in 2000. The film was also a commercial success, grossing $ 161.8 million against

684-415: The 1970s with "touchstones" like Death Wish and Dirty Harry , both of which received multiple sequels. The 1974 film Death Wish has been described as officially starting the genre, causing many cheap imitations and knockoffs such as Vigilante and Vigilante Force , with the most financially successful being 1980's The Exterminator . The Los Angeles Times reported, "Vigilante vengeance

722-460: The 2001 Oscar-winning film Training Day . Chloë Grace Moretz was announced as a co-star on May 10, 2013; Anna Kendrick , Kelly Macdonald , and Nina Dobrev were also considered. On May 31, 2013, Melissa Leo was cast in the film. Leo previously worked with Washington in the 2012 film Flight , and with Fuqua in Olympus Has Fallen (2013). Coincidentally, Leo actually guest-starred in

760-598: The United States and Canada, and $ 88.3 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $ 190.4 million, against a production budget of $ 62 million. A third film with Washington and director Antoine Fuqua returning, was filmed in October 2022, on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. The film was released on September 1, 2023. A series of novels featuring Robert McCall has been written by the original co-creator Michael Sloan. The first

798-641: The cabin and cockpit. Flight opened in 1,884 theaters across the US and Canada on November 2, 2012, with a runtime of 138 minutes. In its first week, the film ranked second in the American box office, grossing US$ 24,900,566 with an average of US$ 13,217 per theater. Flight earned US$ 93,772,375 in the US and an additional US$ 68,000,000 in other countries for a total of US$ 161,772,375 , well above its US$ 31 million production budget. Flight received mostly positive reviews, and has an approval rating of 78% based on

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836-472: The drug. On the SouthJetAir flight, co-pilot Ken Evans takes over while Whip discreetly mixes vodka in his orange juice and takes a nap. He is jolted awake as the plane suffers a mechanical fault and goes into a steep dive. Whip regains control by pulling out of the dive and rolling the aircraft inverted, flying over Nicole's motel, and makes a controlled crash-landing in an open field. On impact, Whip suffers

874-516: The film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Washington's performance received praise. The Hollywood Reporter ' s Todd McCarthy wrote that the film "provides Denzel Washington with one of his meatiest, most complex roles, and he flies with it". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four, writing " Flight segues into a brave and tortured performance by Denzel Washington—one of his very best. Not often does

912-436: The hearing. At the hearing, lead NTSB investigator Ellen Block explains that a damaged elevator assembly jackscrew was the primary cause of the crash. She commends Whip on his valor and skill, noting that no other pilot was able to land the plane in simulations of the crash. She then reveals that two empty vodka bottles were found in the plane's trash, despite beverages not being served to passengers, and that Whip's blood test

950-538: The home of his ex-wife and son, both of whom resent him. Hounded by the media, he stays with Charlie until the NTSB hearing, vowing not to drink. The night before the hearing, Charlie and Hugh move Whip to a guarded hotel room with no alcohol. He finds the door to an adjacent room unlocked and raids the minibar there. The next morning, Charlie discovers Whip passed out drunk. Whip and Charlie call Harling to provide Whip with cocaine, hoping to get him alert enough to make it through

988-608: The month, and Melissa Leo and James Badge Dale in final negotiations. Screenwriter John Gatins said in early October 2011 that production would begin mid-month. Flight was largely filmed on location near Atlanta, Georgia over 45 days in November 2011. The film was produced with a relatively small budget of $ 31 million, which Zemeckis calculated to be his smallest in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1980, made possible because of tax rebates from Georgia and because Zemeckis and Washington waived their customary fees. Gatins explained in

1026-455: The night before the incident. He sees a surviving crew member, Margaret, and asks her to tell the NTSB that he was sober. Whip pays a visit to Evans after he awakens from his coma. Evans has likely lost much of his ability to walk and may never pilot an airplane again. Although upset, Evans has no intention of telling the NTSB that Whip was drinking. Nicole decides to separate from Whip after he fails to stay sober and he spontaneously drives to

1064-507: The objections of the crew due to the vastly different tones of the two shows. Ultimately, the crossover did not happen, and the episode was rewritten as "Beyond Control". The show's theme music was created by composer/performer Stewart Copeland , his first effort at theme music composition in what would become a lengthy career in that field. The track is called "Busy Equalizing". An extended version appears on his album The Equalizer and Other Cliff Hangers . In November 2019, CBS announced that

1102-465: The plane inverted in the last moments of the flight. Among the captain's last words on the CVR were: Okay we are inverted... Now we got to get it... Are we flying? We're flying... We're flying... Tell them what we're doing. At least upside down we're flying." The Alaska Airlines 261 crash had no survivors. The airplane in Flight , a two-engine T-tail jet airliner, appears to be from the same model family as

1140-439: The true story of extraordinary safety and professionalism among airline pilots". Airline pilot Patrick Smith also commented that "a real-life Whitaker wouldn't survive two minutes at an airline, and all commercial pilots—including, if not especially, those who've dealt with drug or alcohol addiction—should feel slandered by his ugly caricature". The pilot also criticised the portrayal of the relationship between copilot and captain,

1178-532: Was an interesting character, and that the sequel could have more of an international flavor. On April 22, 2015, Sony officially announced a sequel, with Washington returning to his role as vigilante Robert McCall. Fuqua's returning was not yet confirmed. In September 2016, producer Todd Black revealed that the script of the film was complete, and that Fuqua would return to direct, with shooting set to begin in September 2017. The Equalizer 2 grossed $ 102.1 million in

The Equalizer - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-488: Was excluded for technical reasons. She then states the only other member of the crew to test positive for alcohol was Katerina. Whip pauses, unable to bring himself to blame Katerina for his actions. He collects himself and comes clean, admitting to being intoxicated the day of the crash. A tearful Whip also admits that he is presently drunk at the hearing and finally acknowledges that he has a problem, coming to terms with his alcoholism. Thirteen months later, an imprisoned Whip

1254-480: Was initially renewed for a fifth season (causing Keith Szarabajka to turn down a role on Midnight Caller ). The show was later canceled, though, due to a row between CBS and Universal Studios over the renewal of Murder, She Wrote . In The Story of The Equalizer , created for the DVD box set, executive producer Coleman Luck also stated that Universal requested a script for a crossover episode with Magnum, P.I. despite

1292-583: Was released in 2020. Vigilante film The vigilante film is a film genre in which the protagonist or protagonists engage in vigilante behavior, taking the law into their own hands. Vigilante films are usually revenge films in which the legal system fails protagonists, leading them to become vigilantes. The vigilante film has in recent years often crossed over with the superhero genre, due to character origin stories frequently involving an injustice having been committed against them. In United States cinema, vigilante films gained prominence during

1330-455: Was reportedly looking to bring The Equalizer to the big screen and to be directed by Paul Haggis , with Crowe attached to play Robert McCall. In December 2011, Denzel Washington was announced to star in the title role of the film version, to be financed by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Escape Artists . Director Antoine Fuqua came on board to direct on March 21, 2013, reuniting him with Washington after their successful collaboration on

1368-598: Was shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic . On May 8, 2020, CBS picked up the series and they added Chris Noth as William Bishop, a quirky ex-CIA director, who is the opposite of Latifah. It premiered on February 7, 2021, after Super Bowl LV . In March 2021, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on October 10, 2021. In May 2022, the series was renewed for its third and fourth seasons. The third season premiered on October 2, 2022. The fourth season finale aired on May 19, 2024. In June 2010, Russell Crowe

1406-508: Was the cinematic theme of the [1970s], flourishing in the more respectable precincts of the new American cinema even as it fueled numerous exploitation flicks," referring to Taxi Driver as a respectable example of the genre. It reported in 2009 that such films were making a comeback after "the comparatively prosperous and peaceable 1990s", with examples like Walking Tall (2004), Death Sentence (2007) and Law Abiding Citizen (2009) . Flight (2012 film) Flight premiered at

1444-556: Was the plane involved in the Alaska Airlines 261 disaster, a variant of the MD-80 . Many elements from the accident were used in the film, such as the cause of the accident, segments of the radio communication, and the inversion of the airplane. Scroggins Aviation Mockup & Effects was hired to supply three decommissioned MD-80 series aircraft that represented the plane in the film, with additional MD-80-series aircraft used for scenes in

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