THE EQUALIZER 3 (2023): Dakota Fanning Joins Denzel Washington in Cast of Upcoming Sequel

Dakota Fanning To Play Opposite Denzel Washington in Action Movie

Dakota Fanning will re-team with her former co-star from 2004’s Man on Fire, Denzel Washington, in the upcoming film, The Equalizer 3.

Dakota Fanning played a 9-year old girl being protected by a bodyguard played by Denzel Washington in the box-office hit, Man on Fire. Now, Fanning will be making a return to the silver screen by co-starring alongside Washington again in the new sure to be action-packed sequel, The Equalizer 3. This forthcoming Sony movie is due out in September of 2023.

In 2001, Dakota Fanning made a name for herself as a child actress when she appeared opposite Sean Penn in I Am Sam which earned Penn an Oscar nod for Best Actor. In that film, Penn played a father with a mental disability who must learn how to support his young daughter (Fanning). That movie was a huge success with audiences and earned a “A” CinemaScore. It made $40 million domestically and cemented Fanning’s status as one of the brightest young child actresses working at the time.

Man on Fire scored an “A-” CinemaScore grade and brought Fanning into the action movie arena. Shortly after that film, Fanning appeared in the science fiction movie War of the Worlds with Tom Cruise which was a step down from the other pictures considering that film secured a mere “B+” audience grade from CinemaScore. As Fanning got a little older, she ended up in a huge blockbuster franchise when she appeared in The Twilight Saga: New Moon in 2009. That role definitely secured Fanning a place on the most talented youthful actresses list.

While Fanning has been working steadily in supporting roles these days, her upcoming part in The Equalizer 3 marks a return to the action movie genre for the actress. Denzel Washington is an incomparable actor and it will be terrific to see him return to the screen with an older, more mature Fanning cast beside him. When Man on Fire was released, it set the box-office on fire with a domestic take of nearly $78 million.

Antoine Fuqua will be back directing the new Equalizer film. Fuqua’s films seem to have taken much inspiration from Man on Fire‘s director Tony Scott’s action pictures. Fuqua’s movies can recall great Scott pictures such as True Romance or Enemy of the State. All this is not surprising being that Fuqua got his start directing music videos. Scott’s films have always been fast paced and visually showy just like Fuqua’s movies are.

It seems Dakota Fanning will be in a huge hit again with The Equalizer 3 considering the previous installments did extremely well financially. It may not bring her as close to an Oscar nomination as her child role in I Am Sam almost did, but with the combination of Fanning and Washington, you can expect some nice box-office returns.

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