‘The Equalizer’ Release Date Gets Pushed Back

The Equalizer movie will be hitting theaters five months later than expected.

The folks at Columbia Pictures haven’t had the easiest time getting this project off the ground. Now it appears the studio is pushing back the film’s release date by several months.

According to reports at Coming Soon, director Antoine Fuqua’s adaptation of the 80s television series will now arrive on the big screen on September 26, 2014. The Equalizer was originally slated to hit cinemas in North America on April 11, 2014.

411mania reports that Fuqua’s The Equalizer won’t have the weekend all to itself. The website states the movie will open against the animated comedy The Boxtrolls and Tarsem Singh’s drama Selfless with Ryan Reynolds.

Denzel Washington will star in the upcoming thriller, a project that will re-team the actor with his Training Day director. Carrie star Chloe Grace Moretz will tackle the female lead.

Based on the TV series created by Richard Lindheim and Michael Sloan, The Equalizer tells the story of a retired intelligence agent (Washington) who becomes a private detective. When someone needs the odds equalized, he’s the guy you need to call. The show hung around for four seasons.

The Inquisitr previously reported that Chloe Grace Moretz landed the role after a successful table reading with Denzel Washington. Although the role was originally meant for someone a little older, the writers tailored the part to suit her age. She will play a teenager hooker in the flick.

Although Fuqua is helming the project for Columbia Pictures, he wasn’t the studio’s first choice to direct the adaptation. Only God Forgives director Nicolas Winding Refn originally wanted to bring the story to life, though he would end up butting heads with Denzel Washington.

For a while, reports suggested that Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt would take over for Refn. However, the movie ultimately ended up landing in Fuqua’s lap. Given his success with the thriller genre, the filmmaker is definitely a good choice for the project.

Are you looking forward to The Equalizer? What do you think about Columbia Picture pushing back the film’s release date to September of 2014?