Antoine Fuqua Talks ‘The Equalizer 3,’ Convos With Denzel & More

Are you ready for The Equalizer 3?

Source: Ivan Romano/Getty Images

We’re ready to see Denzel beat up (and blow up) bad guys in the latest installment of blockbuster trilogy The Equalizer 3 that picks up with former government assassin Robert McCall “serving justice on behalf of the oppressed while struggling to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past,” per the official synopsis.

“Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.”

Check out the action-packed trailer below:

Months before the Hollywood strike, Sony opened CinemaCon with a surprise sneak peek during its presentation that included an appearance from Denzel, Dakota Fanning, and Antoine Fuqua.

‘I am just so exited to be here and to be a part of this film,’ said Fanning in an interview with EW.

Getting to work with Denzel once is a dream come true and twice is… I don’t even know. [I’m] so blessed to be a part of this, and excited for you to see a sneak peek!’

We caught up with director Antoine Fuqua who opened up about his latest team-up with Denzel, their deep spiritual conversations, being at the forefront of Hollywood’s Black director renaissance, and more in our interview you can read below:

BOSSIP: Denzel’s character finds comfort and community in Italy. How has finding community helped you as a director and person, overall?

We all want to belong somewhere. We all want to find some peace. We all want to feel like we belong in a particular place. So, when you can find it, it’s amazing. I’ve found it in family so it’s the most beautiful thing fore sure.

BOSSIP: What would you say is the biggest lesson you learned from Denzel, that he doesn’t know you learned?

Oh, wow. That’s a good one. I don’t know how to answer that one because, you know, we talk a lot about different things. It would probably be something in the spiritual world as far as the Bible, you know. We discuss God a lot, things like that. I probably read some passages that he doesn’t know.

BOSSIP: Do you want to share which passage you read?

Every movie has a different passage… “the wages of sin is death” [Romans 6:23] is something that we talk about a lot and that grounds these movies and that’s why these bad guys die.

And there’s times where we discuss that in a biblical way which is why you see so many crosses and churches and things like that–the spiritual journey trying to find your way to God or whoever you pray to.

But, in our case, to God. That keeps us grounded.

BOSSIP: You’re one of the highest grossing Black directors ever and the only Black director to direct a Blockbuster trilogy. What are your thoughts on being a legend in the director’s chair?

Well, I don’t know what legend means yet because I think I’m still young but there is a weight, right. There’s a responsibility to represent and to win. I compare my job to a Black quarterback in the NFL. There was a time when there weren’t any and the only way you’re getting on that field is to win and give it all you got.

And that’s the best thing you could do for your people is to do the work at the highest level. That’s my job, right? So that the people coming behind me have a reference and they can do better, for sure.

BOSSIP: What are your thoughts on the Black director renaissance in Hollywood right now?

My thoughts would be not to allow yourself to be a “Black director” because you’re Black by nature. Just be the best director you could be, right? That’s our job. And that’s the only way we’re gonna make other people stop looking at us that way.

Don’t just think of yourself as a Black director because you’re allowing yourself to get put in a box. You’re Black when you walk in a room, when you wake up in the morning, right? So be proud of that.

But take your job to whatever dream you have. You want to make a movie about somebody in space–it shouldn’t be based on your color, right? And so we have to just make the best movie that we can make whatever it is so that we could just become a great filmmaker.

No one days Martin Scorsese is the Italian filmmaker. No one says Steven Spielberg is the Jewish filmmaker, right? So why do we have to get put into a box as just a Black director? We have to be more than that and that means we have to look at ourselves as more than that.

And so, my feeling is to be proud of who you are but don’t ever let anybody put you in a box, ever.

The Equalizer 3 opens in theaters everywhere tomorrow, September 1st!