‘Equalizer 3’ Director Says This ‘Feels Like the Last One’ — but ‘Never Say Never’ (Exclusive)

Denzel Washington Equalizer the days might be behind him for now.

The third entry in the big-screen action franchise proved to be a hit, scoring the second-highest box office of all time for Labor Day weekend releases. Washington reprises his role as retired government assassin Robert McCall, this time sharing the screen with his co-star Dakota Fanning Man on fire back in 2004.

Director Antoine Fuqua, who also helmed the 2014 and 2018 sequels, tells PEOPLE that this latest entry is meant to be the conclusion of the trilogy. (Washington, 68, has previously teased that this marks “the end” of his Equalizer mandate.)

“Never say never. I’m going to miss Robert McCall. I think he was a great character, a hero of mine,” says Fuqua, 57. “But it feels like he’s the last one.”

Could audiences one day see a spinoff or a prequel of sorts? “It will depend on the studio,” he says. “But that would be really cool, I think.”

Denzel Washington had a ‘paternal’ relationship with Dakota Fanning on ‘Equalizer 3’ set, director says (Exclusive)

Denzel Washington in “The Equalizer 3”.

Stefano Montesi /Sony Pictures Entertainment /Everett

Of all Fuqua’s films, Equalizer is the one he often hears about the most from fans.

“People come up to me all the time. They love Robert McCall. I think it has to do with justice. People want justice, and obviously in the movie you can see that happening,” Fuqua says. “He’s an everyday person’s hero.”

Fuqua says he and Washington have had a strong working relationship since 2001 training day, for which Washington won an Oscar.

Antoine Fuqua, Dakota Fanning and Denzel Washington in April.

Ethan Miller/Getty

“We have our own rhythm and our own process,” he says, adding, “It doesn’t really change. It gets better along the way, I think. Easier in the sense that we have a shorthand. We do a lot of advance work, just get together and talk over dinner or lunch. By the time we get by the set, me and Denzel, we already know where we’re going, at least the basic intent, and then we develop it from there.”

“We leave room for creativity,” says Fuqua, “but that’s been our relationship from the beginning.”

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Sony Pictures Entertainment

IN Equalizer 3, Robert McCall recovers from an injury in a small town in Italy, where he quickly feels at home. However, his quiet new life there is threatened when a mafia family tries to take over. McCall, the vigilante, strikes back to defend the townspeople.

Fuqua says Washington was once again ready for the challenge and demands of an intense action film.

Dakota Fanning Says Reuniting With Denzel Washington in ‘Equalizer 3’ Was ‘Dream Come True’ (Exclusive)

“Denzel boxes every day and is always in great shape,” says the director. “He was ready for almost anything. Both knees were killing us, though, because of all the cobblestones. I’d go down, he’d say, ‘You got ice? I’ve got some Advil here.’ It was almost like two athletes, older athletes sitting on the sidelines with ice on their knees.”

“But obviously you adjust, because we all get older,” Fuqua adds, “but there was nothing he couldn’t do that I asked him to do.”

Equalizer 3 it’s in theaters now.

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Source: HIS Education