Queen Latifah is getting her chance to take on a familiar role. CBS has handed out a series order to a reimagining of the classic procedural, The Equalizer. The original show also had its run on the same network.
The series will follow Latifah as an enigmatic woman with a mysterious background who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn. The series also stars Chris Noth, Lorraine Toussaint, Tory Kittles, Liza Lapira, and Laya DeLeon Hayes. The original show, which ran for four seasons (1985-1989), starred Edward Woodward as a retired intelligence agent with a mysterious past, who uses the skills from his former career to exact justice on behalf of innocent people who are trapped in dangerous circumstances.
The Equalizer also inspired two film adaptations starring Denzel Washington. THE EQUALIZER, released in 2014, was loosely based on the series and became a box office hit, grossing $192.3 million worldwide. The film was followed by a sequel, THE EQUALIZER 2, released in 2018, which also became successful, grossing $190.4 million globally.
The Equalizer reboot was a high priority pilot for CBS and having a well-known name attached to the project only boosted its chances for a series order. The one caveat has been the coronavirus pandemic, which halted all productions and ultimately resulted in the parties involved not being able to shoot a pilot for contention. CBS did order extra scripts for the series and judging from what they read, the network felt confident moving forward on a series pickup.
I'm a fan of Queen Latifah but not exactly a fan of procedural dramas on CBS so I'll have to wait and see what the first trailer for this looks like before I decide to dive in. The film adaptations were pretty good but I can see a network like CBS stifling some of the grittier aspects of the story for mass consumption. I guess we will have to wait and see.
Will YOU be watching The Equalizer?