Two-time Academy Award®-winning actor Denzel Washington is a man constantly on the move. Never comfortable repeating himself or his successes, Washington always searches for new challenges through his numerous and varied film and stage portrayals. From “Glory” to “Cry Freedom”; from Shakespeare's “Richard III,” to “Training Day,” to his most recent critically acclaimed performance in “Flight,” Washington has amazed and entertained audiences with a rich array of characters distinctly his own.

Now, Washington stars in Columbia Pictures' action-thriller “The Equalizer” as the mysterious Robert McCall whose driving force is an innate sense of justice.

“Robert McCall has done a lot of bad things in his past, and he’s trying to get beyond that – he’s not proud of his past, and he’s trying to do better,” Washington explains. After leaving that past behind to lead a quiet life, he finds that desire for justice reawakened when a young girl – abandoned by the rest of the world – needs his help. “He didn’t like himself – he never lost his skills, he made a conscious decision to put that behind him. It’s when he meets an innocent young girl who is being abused, that he decides to do something about it.”

“McCall’s motivation is simple,” says Todd Black, a producer of the film. “When there is an injustice to an ordinary person, someone who can’t defend themselves, because they’re not capable or they don’t even know where to start, he will take care of it – violently or nonviolently.”

“We’d all like to believe that there’s a guy out there who could help us, if only we could find him,” says producer Jason Blumenthal. “If somehow we could reply to an ad on the Internet, desperately pleading for help when no one else would take that call. I’d like to believe that in my hour of need, somebody out there would listen to me – somebody would drop everything and help me, just because. And that’s the Equalizer.”

In his role as a producer, Washington worked with screenwriter Richard Wenk to realize the role he wanted to play. He says they kept asking the basic questions – “Who is he? What makes him tick? What are his flaws? What is he trying to get over? I think that long ago, he started out as a man who wanted to help people, and it turned into something else. He had to put that all behind him, to shut the door. And this young innocent opens that door again.”

Similarly, Washington felt great confidence in his director, Antoine Fuqua. “He’s very talented,” says the actor. “We sent him the material and he responded – we sat down and he had tons of ideas – and it was a done deal.” Later, on set, that confidence paid off. “Antoine had the vision for the film – he was doing close work with specialized cameras, all of that stuff. But I never worried about any of that. The camera is Antoine’s area of expertise – I don’t have to worry about that. I just worry about the acting,” he smiles.

Since “Training Day,” Fuqua and Washington have had several opportunities to re-team, but “The Equalizer” is the first that actually brought them back together. “We didn’t force it,” says Blumenthal. “It wasn’t ‘Let’s get the guys that did Training Day together.’ That’s not a reason to make a movie. I think Antoine was looking to make a movie where he could get back into character and really understand what makes a person tick. You can only build a great character if you’ve got an unbelievable actor, and of course, we had Denzel. So the challenge then became finding a character that Denzel could sink into and a world that Antoine could bring to life.”

Opening across the Philippines in October 01, 2014, “The Equalizer” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

From Antoine Fuqua, director of “Training Day” and “Olympus Has Fallen” comes Columbia Pictures' new action thriller “The Equalizer” starring Denzel Washington.

In the film, Washington plays McCall, a man who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him to lead a quiet life in peace. But when McCall meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

Based on the television series created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim, “The Equalizer” also stars Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, with Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo. Film is written by Richard Wenk.

For director Antoine Fuqua – who re-teams with Denzel Washington after directing the actor to his Oscar®-winning performance in “Training Day” – McCall shares some of the archetypical heroic traits that have been passed down. “I saw this movie as a throwback, like the westerns that Sergio Leone made,” he explains. “There’s an antihero, in a struggle, reluctant and ashamed to pick up his gun... but when he gets a chance to help other people, he does. He uses his skills for that.”

The film takes its title from the 1980s television series and shares its central premise – a man, highly trained, who can “equalize” the odds when they are stacked against the helpless. Though the filmmakers took only the premise and title from the original show, Blumenthal says that the premise is one that has only become more relevant. “The word ‘equalizer’ is a very strong, powerful word,” he notes. “A lot of people believe that there’s a lot of imbalance in the world, so the idea of creating a balance – equalizing something – is very meaningful. If anything, I think that title means more now, in 2014, than it did in the 1980s. People can get behind this kind of hero: a man who does heroic acts for the people who need them the most.”

In seeking out a director, Washington was excited to be re-teaming with Fuqua. After their experience together on “Training Day,” Fuqua says, it was clear that “The Equalizer” lent itself to a good match of actor and director. “Part of what I discovered in `Training Day' is that I can read something on the page that sounds like an action piece, and I know that Denzel will see the acting in that – he can take an action beat and create great drama, as if it’s a dialogue scene,” says Fuqua. “He’s unpredictable, in the best way possible – he’s in his world, and you’re a fly on the wall, to capture it, if you can be smart enough to know when to continue in the scene.”

Similarly, Washington felt great confidence in his director. “He’s very talented,” says the actor. “We sent him the material and he responded – we sat down and he had tons of ideas – and it was a done deal.” Later, on set, that confidence paid off. “Antoine had the vision for the film – he was doing close work with specialized cameras, all of that stuff. But I never worried about any of that. The camera is Antoine’s area of expertise – I don’t have to worry about that. I just worry about the acting,” he smiles.

“We had a rhythm and an understanding,” concludes Fuqua. “There were times when we didn’t need to talk; we both knew where each other was going.”

Opening across the Philippines on October 01, 2014, “The Equalizer” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

Columbia Pictures has just shared the teaser poster for its upcoming gritty crime thriller “The Equalizer” starring Denzel Washington and directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Olympus Has Fallen”).

The film is an adaptation of the 1980s TV show of the same name and stars Washington as a retired intelligence officer who gets embroiled with the Russian mob after displaying an act of kindness towards a young prostitute (Chloe Grace Moretz).

The television series the film is based on centered on Robert McCall, a former government agent who uses his detective skills to give help to the helpless. His credo was essentially, "Got a problem? Need help? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer"--or so read his yellow pages ad.

“The Equalizer” also stars Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, Haley Bennett, and Marton Cskokas.

Opening across the Philippines in October 2014, “The Equalizer” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

For the fimmakers of TriStar Pictures' new action thriller “2 Guns,” there's only one actor working today who could wholly embody the complex, lead character Bobby Trench, whose motto is “When this is over, I’m going to kill you.” And he's none other than two-time Academy Award® winner Denzel Washington.

After portraying a series of intense characters in recent years, Washington was searching for some humor in his next role. He found that in agent Bobby Trench. “I was looking to depart from heavier roles, and when I read this script it really made me laugh,” the performer reports. “Bobby does whatever is necessary to get the job done. He says there is no code; you do whatever you got to do, whatever it takes. I think he is an honest cop, but he doesn’t live by the honor codes.”

In “2 Guns,” two operatives – Bobby Trench (Washington) and Michael “Stig” Stigman (Mark Wahlberg) -- from competing bureaus are forced on the run together. But there is a big problem with their unexpected partnership: Neither knows that the other is an undercover federal agent.

DEA agent Robert Trench is called many names. And depending upon the role you play in his world, you may know him as Agent Trench, Bobby B. or Bobby Beans. He’s spent three years infiltrating drug cartel leader Papi Greco’s Mexico-based empire, and in the past 12 months, he’s brought in Stig to work the job. Bobby’s latest deal has him trading 500 American passports for cocaine, and Greco has come up with cash, not coke. As Bobby and Stig head back into the U.S.—happy to still have their heads attached to their bodies—they are hauled into custody. Both of their superiors are less than pleased they’ve come back empty-handed.

Working on both sides of the law for so many years has allowed Bobby to effortlessly maneuver between the worlds. Washington explains: “‘I-know-a-guy Bobby,’ my undercover character, can get anything for you that you need: a ’63 Chevy, a ’59 bottle of wine, a condo in the Himalayas. Whatever it is, he knows a guy; that’s his modus operandi.” Still, Bobby’s not beyond being duped himself. “Bobby and Stig are lying to each other for half the picture. I’m not what I told him I am, and he’s not what he told me he is.”

Partnering these two performers was an exciting prospect for director Baltasar Kormákur, who initially suggested to the team that Washington’s Bobby would be the perfect foil for Wahlberg’s Stig. “I hadn’t seen Denzel play light,” says the director. “But the comedy in `2 Guns' is based on reality, like De Niro in `Midnight Run.' Denzel has such an immense presence, but actors with good drama sense have good timing. That timing is everything when it comes to comedy.”

Mark Wahlberg was glad that the stars finally aligned for the two men to work together. Discussing Washington, he states: “We have great chemistry. We’ve known each other for a while, and this was the perfect piece of material for both of us to show a different side of ourselves. People would be very surprised to see how playful Denzel can be. I remember shooting our first scene, and every take I would do something completely different. He said, ‘Oh, I see what’s happening here,’ and he jumped right on board.” Wahlberg admits that he had a bit of an ulterior motive, and that was to get Washington to laugh. “There’s nothing better than seeing Denzel smile. Usually you get to see that once or twice in a movie; in this film, we see it a lot.”

Opening across the Philippines on Sept. 25, “2 Guns” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.columbiapictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.

Two operatives (Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg) from competing bureaus are forced on the run together. But there is a big problem with their unexpected partnership: Neither knows that the other is an undercover federal agent, in Columbia Pictures' new, explosive action thriller, “2 Guns.”

Baltasar Kormakur (“Contraband”) reteams with Wahlberg to direct “2 Guns” from a screenplay that is written by Blake Masters (TV's “Brotherhood”) and based on the Boom! Studios graphic novels by Steven Grant.

Boom! Studios published the first issue of writer Steven Grant and artist Mateus Santolouoco’s explosive five-issue miniseries, “2 Guns,” in 2008. Grant told the intriguing tale of Bobby Trench and Michael Stigman, two undercover agents who discover that the amount of cash locked in the bank vault that they are robbing is not remotely what they expected. When the two find themselves double-crossed by the very men who set them up to do the job, they must go on the run from the organizations they vowed to serve.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Boom! Studios Ross Richie walks us through the source material: “It’s a story about characters ground up by the system, set within the framework of government agencies that pursue their goals, no matter the consequences. Steven took the familiar noir trope of an undercover cop tale, and he deconstructed that. He also included lots of comedy and action to make it incredibly entertaining.”

The series of graphic novels is written by a man with a curious take on this style of writing. “I like doing crime comics,” admits Grant, who calls “2 Guns” an “anti-buddy” story. “I don’t actually believe in good and evil. From my perspective, people walk a line, fall on this side or that, and wobble back and forth. It’s just a natural existence. I tend to view my material not as dramas, but as situational comedies where everybody in the story thinks they know what’s going on, and actually nobody in it knows what’s going on.”

Producer Marc Platt, who has shepherded to the big screen action hits such as “Wanted” and “Drive,” was keen to develop the graphic novel series brought to him by his colleague, fellow “2 Guns” producer Adam Siegel. Platt discusses his initial interest in the source material: “I always love stories where there are two characters who are seemingly very different, and the journey of the story is the way in which those two characters find their way to each other. Here were two guys who don’t want to be in the same general vicinity of each other, but who are forced to work together and learn something about each other and themselves in the process.”

Siegel recalls what drew him to the project, and the manner in which he worked with a talented screenwriter to flesh it out: “When I read Steven Grant’s graphic novel, I was blown away by the great characters and the clear concept that these were two guys who were undercover from each other.”

“2 Guns” is a natural progression of expression for director Baltasar Kormákur, a critically acclaimed actor and director in his native country of Iceland who made his American studio film debut in 2012’s hit “Contraband,” which starred Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale.

Discussing his choice to join the team, Kormákur says: “The script had this modern Western feel, which felt like something that I could play with and be stylized in finding ways of visualizing the story. There’s a lot of humanity to the characters. We like them as we follow them, even though they’re living in an elevated, but not necessarily unrealistic, criminal world.” He sums: “Ultimately, 2 Guns is a character-driven film that pays homage to Westerns through the feel and scope of the landscape.”

Kormákur readily admits that he is drawn to action scripts, but not simply for the sake of delivering adrenaline-fueled moments. “I look at what I can add to it, and I ask myself if I connect with the material or if it will just be another day at work,” he states. “I get attached to material that I feel I can put myself into and help the actors; that gets me excited.”

Opening across the Philippines on Sept. 18, “2 Guns” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visitwww.columbiapictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.